When Someday Never Came
by SmartyPants210
Summary: Maya waited too long for someday. But now that she's moved on, he's come crawling back into her life. (Joshaya, minor Rucas)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

 **Hey everybody! This is my first published fanfiction and I am so excited! Please forgive any mistakes in grammar and spelling that I have made. I spell-checked and grammar-checked to the best of my ability, but I don't have a beta for this story (I don't really know how to get one).**

 **Anyway, I hope you like the story. I was so inspired to write a Joshaya story after seeing Girl Meets Ski Lodge (both parts), so I did. And here it is. This is a multi-chapter fic, so I will be uploading more chapters later and hopefully finishing it by the end of September.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own Girl Meets World or any of the characters, nor do I own Disney's _Tangled_ , which I referenced. Don't sue me. **

* * *

Chapter One.

Maya inspected the diamond ring on her left hand, leaving her work on the dining room table, forgotten for the moment.

It definitely had not been a cheap purchase. There were almost too many diamonds to count, and the band was made of fourteen-karat white gold (her fiancé had been sure to tell her this).

Many people-too many, in Maya's opinion-had told her that her fiancé, Jordan, wasn't the right person for her, and that she shouldn't have said yes. But Maya didn't really care what other people told her.

After all, Jordan was the only person Maya had ever dated that cared enough about her to keep their relationship going for more than two months.

That is, except for Joshua Matthews. Yes, the boy who promised her 'Someday' and never followed through on that promise. Maya hadn't seen Josh since Riley and Lucas's wedding, which was three years ago now. Before that, she hadn't seen him since he kissed her at her high school graduation, which was two years before that.

The point was, she had moved on. After eight years of waiting, she'd finally given up any false hope that she would be with Josh. She chose to settle down, maybe have a few kids.

She turned away from her ring and from any thoughts of Josh and went back to her work. She was still in college at the moment, attending the New York School of Art, but she also helped her mom at Topanga's to earn some money.

It was nearly one in the morning when she finally finished, and right as she was about to go to her bedroom to get ready, a loud, frantic knocking on the front door startled her out of her skin.

Maya froze where she was standing. She didn't know who would come knocking at her door in the middle of the night.

Any other time she would've considered it Riley, as she and her husband lived on the top floor of the same apartment complex that Maya did, but they were gone on vacation and weren't due back for another week or so.

The person, whoever it was, started knocking again, and Maya realized that she couldn't stand there all night.

Besides, would a burglar/murderer knock?

Just in case, Maya decided to take a frying pan from the kitchen with her to answer the door. If Rapunzel from _Tangled_ could knock out a bad guy with a frying pan, then so could she.

Maya made her way over to the front door slowly, holding her weapon above her head like a baseball bat. She put her hand on the doorknob and turned it cautiously, opening the door slowly.

The person on the other side of the door was not a burglar, nor were they a murderer. It wasn't Riley, either, or Lucas. The person on the other side of the door was the last person she expected to see at her house at one in the morning on a Tuesday.

It was Joshua Matthews, standing there with an amused smile on his face, asking her why she was about to attack him with a frying pan.

Maya set the frying pan on the small table by the door. "I thought someone was here to kill me," she said, still not quite believing her eyes.

"Well," Josh said, "I'm sorry I scared you."

Maya gave him a brief, close-lipped smile, not meeting his eyes. Instead her eyes focused on the large thing he was pulling behind him.

"Josh," she said.

"Maya," he said back.

"Why do you have a suitcase?" she asked.

He smiled sheepishly at her.

"Why are you here, Josh?" she questioned.

He took a deep breath. "Look, Maya, if it's not too much to ask, I need a place to stay."

 _Too much to ask?_ Maya thought to herself, _Of course it's too much to ask._

She didn't say that out loud. Instead, she opened the door wider and asked, "For how long?"

Josh shot her a grateful smile and stepped inside her apartment. "Thank you so much, Maya," he said. "It'll only be for a few weeks, just until I can find a place of my own. I promise."

Maya sighed. If only his promises meant anything.

"The couch is a hide-a-bed," Maya said. "I'll get you some sheets and a blanket, but I don't know if I have an extra pillow. I'll go look."

She retreated to the linen closet in the hallway by the bathroom, grabbing a set of sheets and a nice fuzzy blanket. She found an extra pillow stuffed on the very top shelf, and had to struggle for a minute or two to reach it.

Finally she went back into the living room, where she found Josh already unfolding the bed.

"Alright, I've got some sheets, a blanket, and I found a pillow," Maya said, holding these items out for him to take. "The bathroom is down the hall, and so is my bedroom. I have to go to school early in the morning, so I'll probably be gone by the time you get up."

Josh nodded. "Okay."

He took the bedding from her, his hands brushing over hers in the process.

She withdrew her hands instantly, as if he'd shocked her. "I-um...goodnight Josh," she said, turning away.

"Goodnight Maya," Josh replied.

Maya walked back to her bedroom as fast as she could without seeming rude, and went immediately to the master bathroom to splash some cold water on her face.

 _Get a grip, Maya!_ she commanded herself as she dried her face. Y _ou know what he did to you. You should no longer be affected by him like that._

She went back into her bedroom, grabbing one of Jordan's t-shirts and some old bike shorts to sleep in.

By the time she was in her bed, turning off her bedside lamp, she had formed a few rules that would have to be set while Josh was staying here.

Just in case.

* * *

Maya woke up at six o'clock sharp the next morning, going into the kitchen with the sole purpose of getting a cup of coffee and then retreating to her bedroom to get ready for the morning quietly so she didn't disturb Josh.

What she didn't expect was to find pancakes on the table, her coffee already waiting for her, and Josh standing in the kitchen with one of her aprons tied around his waist.

"Good morning," he said, smiling widely at her.

"'Morning," she replied, smiling back.

She noticed as she sat down that her four-person table was set for two.

"Are you going to eat?" she asked, knowing that it would be polite to wait for him if he was.

"Yes, but go ahead and eat without me," he said, then gestured to the stove. "I just have to finish these last few pancakes."

Maya nodded, taking one of them from the top of the small stack and drowning it in syrup.

"Oh, and I assumed your coffee is the same as it was in high school," he told her. "Was I right?"

She nodded, not really wanting to talk about anything high school related.

"Did you sleep alright?" she asked, changing the subject. "Jordan never stops telling me how uncomfortable that couch is."

"I slept fine," Josh said. "Who's Jordan? Do you go to school with her?"

Maya sighed. She hadn't wanted to talk about this with Josh quite yet, but it was inevitable-especially since her ring was in full view for everyone to see.

"Jordan is my fiancé," she said, holding up her left hand and pointing to the ring. "He sleeps on the couch whenever he comes to visit me, a demand made by Cory Matthews and Shawn Hunter."

Josh smiled absentmindedly at her little joke.

Suddenly the room grew silent, and Maya immediately felt uncomfortable.

"I should go get ready," Maya said.

Josh just nodded, turning back to the pancakes.

Maya left her pancake half-eaten on the table.

She had no idea what to say to him now. What was she supposed to say? 'I'm sorry for getting engaged?' 'I'm sorry I didn't wait ten years for 'Someday' to come?'

She just didn't know.

* * *

Maya got home from school around two in the afternoon later that same day.

She found Josh lounging on the couch, flipping through the channels on her old TV, looking bored out of his mind.

"Hey Josh," she greeted, hanging her keys on the hook by the door.

"Hey," he said, changing to another channel.

"You look extremely bored," Maya commented as she made her way over to her refrigerator for a bottle of water.

"Well, I can't exactly go anywhere, can I?" Josh asked.

"Why not?" Maya wondered, going over to sit on the couch with him.

"I don't have keys," Josh pointed out, changing the channel again. "So I couldn't get back in if I went out."

"Oh right," Maya said. "Well, you could've just asked."

"What?"

Maya stood up. "You could've asked for keys," she clarified. "I do have an extra, and I've never known what to do with it."

She went over to the hook by the door and grabbed a key that was attached to a keychain that said 'I Love New York'. Then she sat back down next to Josh.

"Really?" Josh asked. "You're giving me a key to your apartment?"

"Well, I expect to get it back once you move out," Maya said. "But yes, I'm giving you a key. I don't want you to be holed up in here all day with nothing to do."

"Thanks, Maya." He said, reaching for the key.

Maya held it out of his reach. "But there are rules that come with this key."

"Rules?" Josh asked. "What kind of rules?"

"Well, for starters, I don't want you bringing anyone here unless you tell me about it first," Maya said. "Also, if you must come back really late, don't wake me up unless there's an emergency."

Josh nodded, and reached for the keys again.

Maya held them out of his reach again. "One more thing: if Jordan comes over for any reason, you cannot be in the apartment."

Josh frowned. "Why not?"

"He's a protective person, and he'll freak out on me if he knew you were staying here," Maya explained.

"Why would he do that?" Josh asked.

Maya sighed. "Can you just do what I say?"

"I guess," he answered.

Maya placed the key in his hand, praying that he would follow all the rules that she had set.

* * *

 **Author's Note #2**

 **Thank you so much for reading! Feel free to leave me a review, because I'd love to hear from you. Like the story? Tell me! Don't like the story? Tell me!**

 **Regarding when the next update will be: I don't know. I'm aiming for sometime next week. I don't have a set schedule, and this story is only semi-prewritten. Also, I have school and volleyball to deal with, so I don't know how much time I'll have to write. The good thing is this isn't going to be too long. I'm thinking about six or seven chapters.**

 **Alrighty, now time to say goodbye! Until next time!**

 **~SmartyPants210**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys! I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who left me a review. I love hearing that you guys like the story! Thank you also for the encouragement and suggestions that you guys gave me! Just so you know, I will try my best to work any suggestions into my story if I can.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Girl Meets World! If I did, the Triangle would've never existed in the first place.**

 **Anyway, here's the next chapter!**

Chapter Two.

The next week went by smoothly. Josh followed all of the rules Maya had set for him, and he even went the extra step of preparing dinner for the two of them on the nights that Jordan wasn't over (turns out, he was an amazing cook). He had been out to look at apartments twice already, and had even gone furniture shopping once. The only parts of the week that were difficult for them were when it got awkward. Usually they tried to pretend like the past had never happened, but occasionally either Josh or Maya (it was usually Josh) would say something regarding the past or Maya's engagement and then the room would go quiet. Other than that, however, the week was fine.

One day, while Maya out running was running errands, Josh spilled his glass of grape juice on the sheets she'd given him when he'd first came.

He quickly removed the sheets so the juice didn't seep through and stain the couch as well, and then headed to the linen closet at the end of the hallway in search for more.

When he didn't find any, he realized that he would have to ask Maya where to find more.

Wincing, he grabbed his phone and sent her a short message asking her where to find more sheets, praying that she wouldn't ask why.

Luckily, she didn't, and replied that he could find new sheets in the closet in her bedroom, and that she'd be home in an hour or so.

Josh walked over to her closed bedroom door and opened it slowly. He'd never been in her bedroom before, and didn't know what to expect of it. He had been in her bedroom at her mom's house, and it was extremely girly because they couldn't afford to remodel it from the design she'd chosen when she was young.

He quickly found that the bedroom in her new apartment, however, was completely different. The color scheme was made up of different browns and greens. The queen-sized bed took up a lot of the space, but the real attention-getter was the tree on the wall that seemed to be growing out of the dark wooden headboard of her bed. Maya had probably painted it herself. It was beautiful and detailed, and Josh even noticed two little birds nestling together in one of the branches-one light and one dark.

There were pictures hung up all over the other walls, mostly of her and Riley, but also of her other friends and family. Looking more closely at the photos, Josh realized that he didn't find himself in any one of them-except one of their little group on graduation where only half of his grinning face was actually in the picture.

Josh shook his head, trying not to feel disappointed, and turned to her closet. He opened the door and walked inside, searching for the sheets. He saw them sitting on one of the top shelves and had to stand on his toes to reach them.

As he lowered himself back down onto his heels, a box on the shelf that was eye-level caught his eye. It was a large black memory box and his name was written in silver ink on the side.

Curious, he dropped the sheets on the floor and slid the box from its place on the shelf. Then he took the box outside of the closet and sat down on the floor with it.

He grabbed each side of the lid and then hesitated for a few seconds before he lifted the lid.

The first thing he saw in the box was a small, pink stuffed bear. He'd given it to her on Valentine's Day one year because she'd been worried he was no longer interested.

The next thing was a necklace that he'd gifted to her for her sixteenth birthday. He remembered her wearing it almost every day after that. She was even wearing it on her graduation.

The necklace was sitting on top of a carefully folded jean jacket. Josh took it out of the box and unfolded it to look at it, not knowing what a jean jacket had to do with him. The sleeves to the jacket were cut off and red roses were sewed into the shoulders. Immediately he recognized it as the jacket she was wearing that day at the ski lodge when the Triangle was straightened out. The day he first told her that he liked her back. The day he promised her someday.

He set aside the jacket and peered into the box once more. There were stacks of loose photographs and two photo books. As Josh flipped through them, he realized that he remembered each and every moment that they were taken in, even the smallest ones. He smiled as he went through the memories and marveled at how young they both looked.

As he came to the last of the photos, he noticed one final thing in the bottom of the box. It was an old white envelope. It had a stamp on it, and was even addressed to someone. As Josh pulled it out to look at it, he noticed that that 'someone' was himself. He also noticed that 'RETURN TO SENDER' was written across the bottom in red lettering.

He opened the envelope carefully so Maya wouldn't notice that it was tampered with and slid the contents out. The only thing inside was a folded-up piece of sketchbook paper. On one side of the paper, there was a note written in Maya's distinct messy handwriting. It read,

 _'Josh, thank you so much for the party. I had a great time, and I wanted to thank you with this piece. I know you've been wanting something drawn by me for the longest time, and I've been working on this for a while. Also, I really hope you meant all that you said last night, because I meant everything that I said. Anyway, thank you again. xoxo, Maya.'_

Josh turned the paper over to the opposite side and stared in wonder at what he saw.

It was only pencil drawing of him, but everything that she had captured within the seemingly simple piece was outstanding. His smile reached his bright eyes and his hair was almost lifelike. His cheeks were nice and rosy and his eyebrows were drawn up slightly, making him appear even happier. He just looked so alive that it was unbelievable.

A sudden movement from the bedroom door made Josh look up quickly, only to see a flustered Maya standing in the doorway, her mouth open in shock.

"Josh, what are you doing?" she demanded, immediately dropping her purse on the floor and falling to her knees beside him.

She gathered as many things from the floor as she could and took them to her bed, dumping them haphazardly onto the comforter.

"I-I'm sorry Maya I was just-" Josh tried to blurt out, but she interrupted him.

"How dare you?" She cried, snatching the drawing from his hands and taking that with the rest of the things back to the bed. "These things are private!"

"Maya I-"

"I let you stay in my house and you-you pay me back by going through my things?" She shrieked. "I let you go to my closet for sheets, not for this!"

"I'm sorry, Maya!" Josh yelled. "Okay? I was only curious! I mean, wouldn't you be if you found a black box with your name written on the side in someone else's closet?"

Maya paused for a moment, thinking about this. Josh could tell that she really wanted to argue; she really wanted to say no. But she didn't, she only sighed and said, "Yeah, I guess."

She started to pack the things into the box, remaining silent until she was almost finished.

"Why do you have a box filled with things from me in your closet anyway?" Josh asked.

"Well I wasn't just going to keep them around, was I?" Maya asked.

Josh gave her a questioning look.

"I wasn't going to just pretend like you didn't walk out of my life," Maya clarified. "I'm still not going to, so know your damn boundaries next time. We're hardly even friends anymore, Josh, so you had no right to look though my things, even if it had your name on it."

Josh nodded. "I understand, and I really am sorry."

"Thank you," Maya said. "Now to put away some groceries, would you?"

Josh nodded again, then walked out into the living room. As he stooped to grab the first plastic grocery bag, it suddenly occurred to him that it was the first time either of them had actually acknowledged what happened four years ago. He also realized that it stung like hell to be rejected by her for the first time in his life, and finally understood why she was so upset when he told her she was too young all those years ago.

* * *

Riley was home the next day, so Maya was in their apartment most of the time, helping her unpack and listening to stories about her vacation.

"Enough about me now," Riley said as she finished hanging up the last of her dresses. "You and I need to talk about a certain someone staying in your apartment. Bay window, right now!"

Maya smiled as Riley dragged her to the bay window in her apartment even though she was dreading the conversation that would happen there.

Riley, while looking at potential apartments, only had two requirements: it had to be near Maya, and it had to have a bay window. Luckily, this apartment had gone up for sale just as they were finishing their search. They had put an offer on it right away and moved in not too long afterwards.

They sat down next to each other and Riley looked over at Maya with glee.

"So Uncle Josh is staying in your apartment?" Riley asked, trying to contain a smile.

Maya sighed. "Yes I suppose he is."

Riley raised her eyebrows. "And how's that going?"

"It-it's been awkward," Maya confessed. "So awkward, in fact, that I was wondering if I could just live here until he's gone."

Riley rolled her eyes. "It can't be that bad."

"Oh, yes it can." Maya said. "Remember my 'box of Josh'?"

Riley's eyes widened. "No!"

Maya nodded. "I found him sorting through it yesterday. It was possibly the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to me."

"Oh, Peaches," Riley said, reaching over and pulling Maya into a hug.

The bedroom door swung open and Lucas stepped in.

"Ooh, what are we doing in the bay window?" He asked goofily, walking over and sitting next to Riley.

"We're comforting Maya because of Josh," Riley told him, stroking Maya's hair.

"Oh boy, what'd he do this time?" Lucas asked.

"He went through my things," Maya said.

"He found the 'box of Josh', didn't he?" Lucas asked.

Maya nodded.

They were all there when she made it. In fact, it had been Lucas's idea.

"Maya, we're tired of seeing you like this," Riley told her.

 _Maya's mom had let them into their apartment a few minutes ago, so they had gone straight to her room only to find her lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling dramatically._

 _"So we had this idea," Lucas said._

 _"Lucas," Riley corrected. "Lucas had this idea."_

 _"We're going to take all of the things that remind you of Josh and put them into this box," Lucas explained, holding up a large black box. "It will help you forget him."_

 _"First thing has to be this," Riley said, plucking the unopened envelope out of her hands and putting it into the box._

 _"Next are all the pictures," Lucas said._

 _At first Maya had only sat and watched as picture after picture had gone into the box, but eventually she had gotten up and helped._

 _The box was done in less than twenty minutes._

"Oh God, why would he do that?" Lucas asked to no one in particular.

"Who knows?" Riley asked, sighing.

"Anyway," Lucas said, wrapping his arms around Riley's waist, "I came in here to tell you that you should get some rest."

"Lucas, you two were just on vacation," Maya pointed out. "Why would she need rest?"

Suddenly Maya noticed all of the clues: Lucas's hands resting on Riley's stomach, Riley wearing an extra loose top, and even the glow emitting from Riley.

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed. "Riley, you're pregnant!"

Riley nodded, beaming, and Maya pulled her into a tight hug.

"How far along are you?" Maya asked as she pulled away.

"About ten weeks," Riley said, "but that's not what we're talking about right now. We're talking about you and Josh."

"There is no 'me and Josh'," Maya insisted. "He's just staying at my apartment until he finds one for himself."

"That's the part that I don't get," Lucas said. "Wasn't he staying at your parents' hou-"

Riley looked at him pointedly and shook her head.

Maya raised her eyebrows. "He was staying where?" she asked, even though she knew what Lucas had been about to say.

Riley gave her friend a sympathetic look. "He didn't want us to tell you."

Maya stood up. "Excuse me."

The couple let her go, seeing how angry she was.

Maya stormed down the stairs and into her own apartment, where she found Josh making dinner.

"Hey Maya, I hope you like spaghetti because that's all I could find in the-"

"Were you staying at Cory and Topanga's before you came here?" Maya demanded, interrupting him.

"I-um..."

Maya raised her eyebrows, daring him to lie about it.

"Yes I was," Josh admitted.

"For how long?" Maya asked, her voice getting louder.

"About a year," Josh said. "But why is me staying at my brother's place for a while a problem for you?"

"Because Cory and Topanga's is only five minutes away!" Maya shouted. "And you never came to see me! You never cared enough to take five minutes out of your day just to say hello to me!"

"I didn't think you would want to see me!" Josh yelled back. "So I stayed away!"

"Of course I wanted to see you!" Maya exclaimed. "I loved you Josh! For years and years I loved you!"

"But I left and made you angry with me, so I assumed you didn't want me anywhere your new life!" Josh said.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have left in the first place!" She immediately turned on her heel and retreated to her bedroom, where she promptly shut the door, sat against the wall, and burst into tears.

She didn't know what brought them on. She hadn't cried about Josh since the day after Riley and Lucas's wedding when she realized that he was probably gone from her life for good. But now that he was back, she didn't know what to feel. Obviously the old feelings were still there-she didn't know if they would ever go away-but at the same time she was so angry for the hell he put her through and the nerve he had to come back into her life.

Soon, she calmed herself down and then came the question of what she would do for dinner. Josh was probably still in the kitchen, and she really didn't want to face him. But still, she was really hungry. She could always open her bedroom window and use the fire escape to climb back up to Riley and Lucas's. They'd feed her, for sure. But Riley could be too tired to cook, and Lucas's cooking was flat-out horrible.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and she froze.

"Maya, can we talk?" Josh called through the door.

Maya considered her options. She could ignore him and pretend she was asleep. She could climb out the window and go to Riley and Lucas's (but he'd most likely go to them first of he thought she was missing). Or, she could let him inside and hear what he had to say. And for some reason, she really wanted to give him another chance.

She sighed. The choice was obvious.

"Come in," she called.

The door opened and Josh stepped in, carrying two bowls of spaghetti with him.

"Hey," he greeted, making his way towards the bed. He held out one of the bowls. "Spaghetti?"

Maya took it with a grateful smile. "Before you start talking," she said, "I need to know some things."

"Like what?" Josh asked.

"Like the kind of things you should have told me a week ago when you first showed up here," Maya said. "Like why you need a place to stay."

"Well, Cory kicked me out of his apartment," Josh explained. "He said something about 'opportunity presenting itself' or some other things that only a history teacher would say."

Maya smiled at the joke. "So why come here? I thought you didn't want to confront me."

"Maya, I did," Josh said. "I really wanted to see you. But I chickened out every time I had the opportunity, especially after Cory told me you got engaged."

"Wait, I thought you didn't know," Maya said.

"No I did," Josh admitted. "I didn't know his name, but I knew you were engaged.

"But anyway, when Cory kicked me out, you were the first person that I thought of, so I just drove here. And I'm sorry for coming here without warning, by the way."

"It's okay," Maya assured him.

"In fact, I'm sorry for everything," Josh said. "I've done so much to hurt you."

"I've gotten over it," Maya lied. She really hadn't, not completely.

"Do you think we could just start over?" Josh asked. "Could we be friends?"

Maya smiled. "I'd like that."

Josh smiled back. "Me too."

They say there in comfortable silence for a few moments before Josh spoke again.

"I really do regret all of the mistakes I've made when it comes to you. Especially because it means that I lost my chance to be with the one girl I've ever truly loved."

"Josh..." Maya said. They just had a nice moment. As _friends_. He couldn't just say things like that.

"Don't worry, Maya," Josh told her. "I know you don't feel the same about me. And I'm moving on. I promise."

Suddenly Maya felt like someone had punched her in the gut, but she pushed away the feeling. It was good that he was moving on. She already had. Right?

 **Author's Note #2:**

 **I hope you liked that chapter! I'll try to update again by the end of the week. I'm on vacation, so I have a ton of time to write.**

 **As always, please tell me what you thought and leave me any suggestions that you have!**

 **~SmartyPants210**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**

 **Well, hello again! I updated pretty fast, don't you think? (I'll tell you a secret: It's because I have nothing to do but laze around on the beach for a week.)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World. I never have, and I never will.**

 **Anyway, on with the story.**

Chapter Three.

"Maya, I'm back!" Josh called as he opened the door to her apartment.

He had just been out looking for an apartment of his own, and he had some good news.

Maya emerged from her bedroom and walked into the living room. "Hey! Are you going to make dinner tonight, or do you want me to get takeout?"

The two had been on much better terms ever since the conversation that they had in Maya's bedroom a few days ago.

"I'll make dinner," Josh told her. "But first, I have really good news!"

"What is it?" Maya asked excitedly.

"I found an apartment!" Josh announced.

Maya's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really?"

Josh nodded vigorously. "I put an offer on it today, and the real estate agent seemed to think that it'd be accepted."

"Josh, that's great!" Maya said, rushing over and giving him a giant hug.

Josh hugged her back tightly. "Thanks."

All of a sudden they both realized what they were doing, and immediately pulled away.

"So, what do you want for dinner?" Josh asked, trying to conceal the awkwardness of the situation.

"Oh, um..." Maya thought for a minute. "I don't know. Surprise me."

"Okay," Josh agreed with a mischievous grin. "It'll be ready in half an hour."

"I'll be in my room," Maya said before turning on her heel and going back there.

She sat down at her desk, staring at the wooden surface while she thought.

Josh had found a place of his own. She didn't know how she felt about this. Of course it was supposed to be a good thing, but for some reason Maya didn't want it to happen now.

They had been doing so well, and had finally worked out their problems. Maya was actually enjoying his company as well, and she knew that the apartment would feel empty without him there.

What if moving into his own apartment meant he removed himself from Maya's life again? What if she never saw him again after he left?

Maya immediately pushed these thoughts from her head. He wouldn't do that. She knew him, and she knew that he wouldn't do that.

But then again, she had thought she knew him back when she was in high school. And he did it then, so why wouldn't he do it again?

Maya snapped herself out of those kinds of thoughts. She shouldn't think about Josh that way, it would just make her mad at him for nothing.

About thirty minutes later, Josh called to her saying dinner was ready.

She left her room quickly, wanting to be away from those thoughts.

He had prepared a stir fry for the two of them, and they ate it while making small talk. It was one of the most pleasant meals that she had with him ever since he came to her apartment in the first place.

"So, have you thought much about how you want your apartment to look?" Maya asked. "I mean, I know you went and looked at some furniture, but did you pick anything out yet?"

"No, not yet," Josh admitted. "I was eyeing a few things, but I didn't want to buy anything until I actually found an apartment."

"Oh," Maya said. "Well, do you want someone to help you shop sometime? Because I've been told I'm pretty good at interior design."

"If you're offering, I'd love your input," Josh said. "Can you come with me tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Maya asked, taken aback by the abrupt offer. "I mean, I don't think I have anything going on tomorrow, but I thought you wanted to wait until you actually bought the apartment."

"It's practically mine already," Josh said. "And I don't want to waste any time getting out of your hair."

Maya rolled her eyes. "I thought we talked about this. I'm not mad at you anymore, so I don't mind you staying here for as long as you need to."

"Still, I must be a downright pain in the ass sometimes," Josh said.

"Well..." Maya teased.

"Hey!" Josh protested.

"I'm not the one who suggested it," Maya pointed out. "You were."

"Fair enough," Josh said. "But seriously, will you go shopping with me tomorrow?"

"Yes, I'd love to," Maya said, smiling sincerely at him.

* * *

"I'm telling you, curtains will make your apartment look smaller," Maya insisted.

"And I'm telling you, I want a little privacy," Josh argued.

"Not buying curtains will also save you money," Maya pointed out.

"I think I can afford curtains, Maya."

Maya sighed. "Fine. Buy curtains. But get the ones that are white and gauzy, because that won't close the space off too much."

"Okay."

Josh picked out some curtains that fit Maya's preferences and put them in their cart, and then they moved on.

"I can't believe how bossy you're getting about this," Josh said.

"Hey, you'll thank me once you see this all put together," Maya retorted. "Now, to find a duvet..."

They traveled deeper into the seemingly endless home store, Maya picking most of the things out and sometimes even forgetting to ask Josh his opinion first.

They checked out after what seemed like ages in the store, piling only a few bags in the back of the car before going on to a thrift store where Maya had insisted that they would find amazing home decor for only a fraction of the price that it would be in a regular store. And she was right about that.

After finishing at that store, Josh suggested that they go and get something to eat for dinner. He took her to an amazing Chicago-style pizza place that, turns out, was within walking distance of her own apartment.

"So," Maya said as they waited for their food, "what do you think of Riley being pregnant?"

Riley had announced her big news to the rest of her family (Cory and Topanga already knew, of course) the other day when they were all at Cory and Topanga's for dinner.

"On one hand, I'm happy that she's finally having a kid," Josh said. "I mean, she's wanted one ever since she and Lucas got married. But on the other hand, I want to kill Friar for knocking up my favorite niece."

Maya snorted. "Me too...but I thought you and Lucas were friends," she said, remembering how, after their visit to the ski lodge back in ninth grade, Josh and Lucas became pretty close.

"We were," Josh said. "But I haven't really spoke to him since I left after graduation...pretty sure that has something to do with you."

"What?" Maya asked. "Why would it have anything to do with me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Josh asked. "You are almost as close to Lucas as you are with Riley, and he cares about you like an older brother would. I hurt you by leaving, so he stopped speaking to me."

"Oh," Maya said. "I guess that's a good reason. But you should tell him that I'm fine now, so you can rekindle your bromance."

Josh laughed. "I'll make sure to do that."

They continued talking even after the food came, laughing at old memories and asking each other about what happened in their lives since high school.

And it was funny, because a conversation that would've been so awkward only a week ago had them both feeling completely at ease and connected to each other. They almost forgot that they were in a public place, and received a few glares from other costumers when they laughed too loud or accidentally let some profanities slip in front of children.

They finally got back to Maya's apartment at ten.

"Thanks for helping me shop Maya," Josh told her as she fumbled to find the key to her apartment.

"No problem," Maya said, flashing him a bright smile. "I had a lot of fun. It was nice being able to talk to you like that again."

She turned the key in the lock and opened the door. When they stepped in, they realized that they were not alone.

A heavily muscled man sat on one of the chairs in Maya's dining room, and rose as soon as they walked in.

"Where have you been, Maya?" He demanded.

Josh looked over to Maya. Her eyes were wide and she looked slightly scared.

"Jordan? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"We had a date tonight," Jordan said angrily. "I came to pick you up four hours ago."

"Oh my god," Maya said. "I completely forgot about our date."

Jordan narrowed his eyes. "Obviously." Then he turned his eyes on Josh. "And who're you?"

"Josh Matthews," Josh answered, holding out his hand. No matter how tense the mood was, he was still going to be polite.

Jordan glared at his outstretched hand rather than taking it. "Oh. You." He turned back to Maya. "I thought you said that you two were over."

"We are, Jordan, I promise," Maya said. Her tone said that she was pleading with him not to make a big deal out of this.

"It sure doesn't look like that, Maya," Jordan said. "You ditched your fiancé to go on a date with him."

"It wasn't a date, Jordan!" Maya insisted.

"We need to talk," Jordan said gruffly, grabbing Maya's wrist roughly and starting to drag her back to her bedroom.

"Ow, Jordan you're hurting me!" Maya yelped, but Jordan ignored her.

Maya looked back at Josh, and the helpless look on her face made him spring into action. He quickly made his way over to them and laid a hand on Jordan's chest.

"Hey man, you're hurting her," Josh warned.

Jordan immediately let go of Maya and took a hold of the front of Josh's t-shirt.

"Don't you try to tell me what to do, pal," he commanded.

Josh almost felt scared for his life. The other man had a good foot or so on him, and was twice as muscled. He could easily break Josh in half if he wanted to.

"Jordan, stop it!" Maya screamed, pulling him off of Josh.

Josh fell back, and Jordan towered over Maya's petite frame, breathing heavily.

"Fine," Jordan said. "If he's who you're going to choose, then I'll leave."

With that, he walked to the door, yanked it open, and then slammed it shut behind him.

Josh got up and brushed himself off, only to watch as Maya burst into tears and then fled to her bedroom.

After a few minutes, Josh went over to her closed door and knocked.

"Maya?" he called through the door.

"Get away!" She yelled angrily. "This is all your fault!"

Josh frowned. His fault?

"How on earth is this my fault?" He demanded, getting angry at her for accusing him.

"You didn't let him talk to me!" She said.

"I was trying to protect you, Maya! He was hurting you, you said it yourself!"

"I was fine!" Maya insisted.

"You weren't!" Josh argued. "If you're in an abusive relationship, Maya, you need to tell someone!"

"I am not in an abusive relationship!" Maya exclaimed. She was obviously offended by this suggestion. "Just leave me alone, Josh!"

Josh sighed, and turned to walk to the living room.

A few hours later, he went back to check on her, and she was fast asleep, still in her day clothes.

* * *

Maya woke up late the next morning. She remembered last night's events and immediately reached for her phone.

Jordan had texted her, asking her to meet him at Topanga's at three for coffee.

She said yes, relieved that the situation would be worked out. Then she got up and went into the living room, where she found Josh on his laptop, working. She walked over to him and sat down on the coffee table across from him.

He looked up from his laptop, and then closed it immediately. "Hey."

"Hey," she said back. "I'm sorry about last night."

"Me too," Josh said. "Are you okay?"

Maya nodded. "We're meeting at Topanga's this afternoon. We'll work it out."

"That's...good, I guess," Josh said. "Do you want me to come too?"

Maya smiled. "I don't think that will make it any better." Seeing his worried look, she put a hand on his knee. "Don't worry, Josh. I'll be okay. I trust Jordan."

Josh sighed. "If you're sure."

"I am. Okay?"

Josh nodded. "Okay."

Maya smiled again. "Okay."

 **Author's Note #2:**

 **Okay, I'll admit, that took a bit of a dark turn. I was not planning for Jordan Go crazy like that, it just sorta...happened. But I promise, Maya isn't lying to Josh. That really was the only time he's been like that (not that I have any proof). I didn't want Maya's relationship to be abusive, and I still don't. So, this was a one time thing that was added for drama.**

 **Anyway, now that that's cleared up, I hope you liked this chapter. It was written pretty fast, and I don't know if it's my best work, but I wanted this up ASAP for you guys. Let me know what you think.**

 **Thanks so much for reading!**

 **~SmartyPants210**

 **(P.S. Does anyone actually read author's notes? Because I know I didn't up until a little while ago)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys! I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while. School just started again, and I've got volleyball every day on top of that, so I've been pretty busy. Also, I had no idea how I wanted to write this chapter until a few days ago, so it was coming along even slower because of that. Anyway, it is here now and I hope you enjoy it.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Girl Meets World.**

 **Happy reading!**

Chapter Four.

Maya laughed at a joke that Shawn told as she got up to put her dishes in the sink. She was going to stay at her parents' house for a few days just to spend some time with them, and had entrusted the apartment to Josh for those days. It had been a few days since the incident with Jordan, and everything was back to normal. She'd worked things out with Jordan, and somehow managed to get Josh off her back about what Jordan had done to her the other night. It wasn't that big of a deal, but he had seemed to think it was.

So, after all the drama of the past two weeks, she decided to take a weekend to be with her parents.

"I'm going to get ready for bed," she told them, turning to go to her old bedroom and grab her pajamas.

As she shuffled through her duffel bag, she realized that she hadn't packed any pajamas for the next few days. Sighing at her forgetfulness, she grabbed her keys and her purse and her keys instead.

"Mom," she yelled.

"Yes?" her mom called back.

"I'm going to go back to my apartment really quick to grab pajamas, alright?"

"Okay sweetheart! Say hello to Josh for us!"

Maya rolled her eyes at her mother's response, and then went down to get her car. It took her around ten minutes to reach her place, and she took the stairs to make the trip even faster. After finding the key and unlocking the door, she pushed it open, expecting Josh to be on the couch watching TV or something similar to that.

He was indeed on the couch, but he wasn't watching TV. Instead, he was busy with a blonde-haired woman who was straddling his waist and practically devouring his face as she kissed him.

As soon as the couple realized that their moment had been interrupted, they separated. As soon as Josh realized that it was Maya who had interrupted them, he practically shoved the blonde off his lap and stood up, looking thoroughly embarrassed.

The blonde stood as well, and Maya was immediately envious of her long, slender legs, small waist, and full breasts.

"Josh, do you know her?" the woman asked. She looked absolutely mortified, and was frantically trying to button up her shirt.

Josh ignored her. "Maya, this isn't what it looks like."

"Oh really?" Maya asked. "Because it looks like I just found you hooking up with some girl in my apartment, explicitly breaking one of the rules that allow you to stay here in the first place."

"Okay, so maybe it is what it looks like," Josh said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "But you weren't supposed to be home for a few days."

"So that gives you permission to have a girl over?" Maya demanded.

"I've had guys over before, and you were fine with that! Why's a girl any different?" Josh asked, turning the tables to her.

"Because I didn't give you permission to have this girl over!" Maya said. "That's what we agreed on, is it not?"

"I-um…" the woman spoke up, grabbing her purse from the floor. "I think I should leave."

"No, Olivia, wait-" Josh said at the same time Maya said, "Okay bye."

"You two obviously have to work something out," the girl, Olivia, said. "I-I'll call you Josh."

By the way she was out of the apartment in less than ten seconds, Maya guessed that Olivia wouldn't actually call him.

"I cannot believe you did that, Josh!" Maya yelled. "I was gone for three hours! Three hours! And you already broke one of the rules? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I still don't get how this is such a big deal," Josh said.

"You were about to have sex with someone! In my apartment! On my couch! Without my permission!" Maya shouted. "How is that not a big deal?"

"When you put it that way, it sounds like a big deal," Josh pointed out.

"'That way'?" she asked. "I said it exactly how it was! Honestly, I can't deal with you right now!"

She went back to her bedroom, and then texted her mom, telling her she might not be back for a while. She had something to work out with Josh.

After an hour or so in her room, she had calmed down.

She heard him calling from the living room only minutes after she'd declared herself 'calm', so she went out and found him waiting anxiously by the couch.

"What is it, Josh?" she asked.

"I'm sorry for that," Josh said. "I was completely out of line."

"Yeah, you were," Maya said. "Honestly, what got into you? Everything had been going so well before that."

"Again, I'm sorry," Josh repeated.

"I get that," Maya said. "And you're forgiven. Now, is that all you brought me in here to say?"

Josh took a deep breath. "No, unfortunately."

Maya sighed. "This ought to be good."

"I don't know exactly how to tell you this," Josh started out.

"Just spit it out," Maya commanded. "It can't be that bad."

"I-I'm still in love with you."

Stunned silence met him after he said that, and he decided to fill it with more words.

"You're such an amazing woman, Maya, you always have been, and I regret what I did. I also regret that I waited this long to say something about it. It's just that spending these past few weeks with you has really reminded me of who you are and how incredible that person is.

"And I know that I promised that I would move on, but I tried that with Olivia, and all I could think about was you the whole time I was with her. And now-"

He stopped abruptly, noticing that she had still said nothing, she was just staring at him with a face that told him that she was slowly getting angry with him.

"Keep going," she said.

"What?" he asked, confused. He was expecting something completely different. An angry outburst at the least.

"You stopped," she said. "I want you to keep going. Keep digging this hole."

Stupidly, he listened to her. He kept going.

"I have listened to Cory and Topanga talk about your fiancé, and then I listened to you talk about him too. And I know you love Jordan, and that you're about to get married to him. I know that. But I just want to know if I still have a chance with you. Because if I do, I will stay and I will fight for you. But if I don't, I don't know if I could allow myself to stay in your life."

She didn't say anything for what seemed like an eternity.

"Maya, will you please say something?" He asked.

The next few moments seemed to happen in slow motion. Without letting her respond to his words, Josh took another step closer to her and closed the remaining space between them, pressing his lips to hers. For half a second, she kissed him back, but then reality hit her and she pushed him away roughly.

"How _dare_ you?!" Maya shouted. Tears were forming in her eyes, but she wiped them away angrily. She was seething. "How dare you force me to make that decision!"

She paused, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes again, this time with the palm of her hands. They were starting to fall hot and fast, but she wouldn't break down. Not now. Not in front of him.

"I'm tired of waiting, Maya," Josh said. "I love you, and I need you to tell me where I stand in your life."

Maya shook her head, wanting to block his words from her head. He couldn't seriously be expecting this from her, could he? If he was, she knew what her ultimate decision would be.

"Are you seriously expecting me to choose between the two of you?" she asked quietly.

"Maya, I need to know," Josh said.

Maya took a few deep breaths as she processed everything that had happened in the past few minutes. She had to make the decision. Either way, it meant someone she really cared about would leave her life for good. At least, that's what Josh was threatening and what Jordan would likely do.

When she really thought about it, however, the decision was painfully obvious. Josh had gotten his chance already, and he had blown it. Jordan had yet to do anything like that.

She took a deep breath and turned to Josh, ready to tell him that.

"Then you can leave," Maya said as calmly as she could. "You can leave, and you can't ever come back."

Suddenly, it looked like Josh regretted his words. They weren't working in his favor, like he somehow thought they would.

"Maya, wait…" Josh said.

"No!" Maya yelled. "You do not get to change your mind now! You made your decision, and now I've made mine. I want you out of my apartment."

She began to push him towards the door until his back collided with it. Then she closed his suitcase, not caring that a lot of his stuff was still in the bathroom, and rolled it over to him.

"I don't care where you have to stay, or how long you end up staying there," she said through her teeth. "But I don't want you staying here anymore."

Then she opened the door.

He looked into her eyes for half a second, then looked away. "Goodbye Maya."

And then he left.

She made it to the couch that he slept on before she broke. She curled herself into a ball and started crying harder than she had in five years.

* * *

"I'm here, and I brought all of the ice cream that our freezer had," Riley said, opening the door to her best friend's apartment. Her arms were indeed filled with four or five containers of ice cream. "Lord knows we have too much-I've been craving it a lot lately."

She had come over as soon as Maya had texted her, despite it being one in the morning. Lucas had been sleeping soundly, but she hadn't been able to fall asleep due to her growing belly.

"Thanks," Maya said, sitting up and making room for her friend on the couch. "Did I wake you? I'm really sorry, I just couldn't sit here all night thinking about what happened."

Riley put the containers on the coffee table and then went to her kitchen in search of spoons. "You're fine, Maya. I wasn't really sleeping anyway."

She found what she was looking for, sat down next to Maya, and picked up one of the many tubs of ice cream in front of them. She opened the lid, gave a spoon to Maya, and then started to dig in.

"So what exactly happened?" she asked, reaching over and brushing a tear from Maya's cheek. "I thought everything was going well for you two."

"It was," Maya said. "It was great, but then he brought this girl-Olivia, her name was-over to hook up with her while I was at my parents' house. I came home a few hours ago just to grab some things that I had forgotten and found them on the couch. His shirt was off, and hers was unbuttoned…"  
"And he left because you walked in on them?" Riley asked.

Maya shook her head. "No, he left because…because I didn't choose him."

Riley frowned. "You didn't choose him?" she asked, thoroughly confused.

"So, after Olivia left, we got into an argument," Maya explained. "So I went to my room for a few hours to cool off. Then he called me in here to apologize, and then he told me he still loved me and he wanted me to…" She trailed off, the story bringing fresh tears to her eyes. "He essentially told me to choose between him and Jordan and then…and then he kissed me!" She paused for a few moments, then continued.

"Riley…he didn't even fight me when I told him to go. He just said goodbye and left."

Riley put the ice cream on the table and pulled Maya into a hug. "I'm sorry Peaches."

"He couldn't have cared that much about me if he was willing to just leave like that, could he?" Maya asked, crying into Riley's shirt. "…I wonder if he ever cared.

"Of course he did, honey," Riley said, stroking her long hair comfortingly. "He's just an idiot sometimes. I'm sorry I ever brought him into your life."

Maya gave her a watery laugh. "Thanks."

Riley pulled out of their hug and gazed at her broken friend sympathetically. "So you chose Jordan?"

Maya nodded. "Jordan…he's never caused me pain like Joshua has, and I think he really cares about me."

Riley nodded. "I think he does too."

Maya smiled slightly. "Thank you Riley. I know you don't like him too much, so that means a lot to me."

They sat there for a while, picking the ice cream back up. Riley put her head on Maya's shoulder after a few moments, tired from the lack of sleep she had been getting the past few days.

"So…the real question is: did you make the right choice?" Riley asked, looking up at Maya's face.

Maya thought for a long while.

"Let's hope I did."

* * *

Days later, Josh texted Maya that he was coming to get the rest of his things from her apartment. She didn't text him back, but he wasn't expecting it.

When he reached her apartment, he skipped the elevator and climbed the stairs slowly, giving himself time to prepare for seeing her for what might've been the last time.

He knocked when he finally reached her place, and the door was opened almost instantly. But instead of being greeted by the blonde beauty, his pregnant niece stood in the doorway with a large brown box.

"Maya had an art show to attend," Riley said coldly, shoving the box into his arms. "Not that she'd want to see you anyway."

Josh couldn't meet her eyes. He knew that he'd fucked up, but he had really hoped that it wouldn't do much to his family ties with the Matthews. All in vain, apparently.

"You really messed up this time Josh," she said, her tone somewhat softer. "More than you ever have before. Don't expect things to be the same ever again."

Josh hung his head in shame. "I know," he said quietly.

With that, Riley shut the door and he was left to get back to his friend's apartment with tears in his eyes.

How could he have pushed someone so wonderful from his world in a matter of hours?

 **Author's Note #2:**

 **So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Again, I'm sorry it took so long to upload it. I will try my best to get the next chapter out sooner, but I'm not too sure how much time I'll get.**

 **I had this idea the other day about writing a companion one-shot type of thing about exactly what happened at Maya's graduation, just to give you guys a little more information about that. I know that I've been a bit vague about it in this story, so let me know if you'd like to see that. If you do, I'd love to write it for you!**

 **Thanks for reading! Goodbye for now!**

 **~SmartyPants210**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**

 **Hey Guys! So I wanted to start this out by saying that I'm so, so, soooo sorry that I haven't uploaded in like a month. I'm super busy right now, and have barely had any time to write. But I've been trying to fit writing into my schedule as much as I possibly can. I have a couple more chapters planned for this story, so I hope you'll be patient with me and continue to read it.**

 **Okay, now onto the story. Please read and leave me a review telling me how you liked this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Girl Meets World.**

Chapter Five.

Maya stomped her feet on the ground, shaking the snow off of her new boots. A snowstorm had hit New York a few days previous, and they were still suffering from it. There were accidents every day due to the icy roads, and a few buildings around her apartment  
complex were still without power.

As she unwrapped her scarf from around her neck, she walked up to the front desk. A young woman she had never seen before sat in place of the usual Mrs. Granger, and she smiled brightly as Maya approached.

"Hello!" the lady greeted cheerfully. "How can I help you?"

"I'm here to see Jordan Anderson?" Maya told her. "I'm his fiancée."

Before the woman could answer her, the elevator behind her dinged, and when the doors opened Maya saw the plump, smiling face of the aging woman who usually worked at the front desk of her fiancé's workplace.

"Maya," she greeted warmly, stepping around the desk and enveloping her in a hug that seemed to banish all the coldness from her body. "How are you, my dear?"

"I'm doing well, thank you," Maya responded just as warmly. "How are you, Mrs. Granger?"

"I'm pretty darn good," Mrs. Granger said. "I see you've met my new assistant. Maya, this is Madeline Warner."

"You can call me Maddy," the young woman said, smiling as she shook Maya's hand.

"Maddy has been such a big help the past few weeks," Mrs. Granger informed Maya. "Anyway, I take it you're here to see Mr. Anderson?"

"Yes I am," Maya said. "I just wanted to surprise him before he took off to Seattle this evening. Brought him some of my mom's cookies." She held up the plate she was carrying, showing off the mouth-watering delicacies that she knew Jordan would die for.

"Looks good," Mrs. Granger commented. "Jordan should be in his office."

"Thank you so much!" Maya said.

"Not a problem," Mrs. Granger said. "Say hello to him for me, would you? I haven't seen him in a few days."

"Of course," Maya agreed before heading towards the elevators. She waited for a short while before the elevator reached her level, and then stepped on and pressed the button for the top floor.

Jordan had been the head of a large corporation ever since his dad retired and handed the business down to him. He had formed strong connections with some of the people in his workplace when he was only a kid and he would come to visit his dad, and one  
of the people he was closest to was Mrs. Granger. She was like a mother figure to him, especially after his own mother died. He had told Maya that he remembered sitting with her at the desk, talking to her while they waited for his dad to finish at  
a meeting. He told her that Mrs. Granger really helped him while he was grieving forhis mom.

Naturally, since the two had such a close relationship, when Jordan introduced Maya as his girlfriend, Mrs. Granger was extra warm and friendly to her, gushing about how Jordan hadn't brought a girl to the building in years. Maya had come to grow quite  
close to the older woman over the past couple of years.

The elevator's ding brought her out of her thoughts, telling her that she had reached her destination. She stepped into the small waiting room and paused for a moment to look in awe out the window at the snow-covered city. Then she turned to the dark  
oak door that led to her fiancé's office, and turned the doorknob.

The door swung open and Maya promptly dropped the tray in her hands when she saw what was going on behind it.

Jordan was sitting on his desk, trying to rid the blonde that was straddling his waist of her shirt while kissing her at the same time.

The sound of the tray clattering loudly on the wooden floor of Jordan's office caused the two on the desk to turn their heads to look at the person who interrupted them, and Maya immediately recognized the blonde as the woman she found Josh with in her  
apartment over six months ago. Olivia.

Part of her wanted to break down in tears right then and there. Another part of her wanted to go on an angry rampage and ruin everything in his perfect, pristine office. The third part of her wanted to do neither of those things and handle the situation  
like a mature adult. Ultimately, the third part of her won out.

She walked up to them, slipping her ring off in the process.

"Fuck you," she told him calmly as she stared straight into his eyes. She then slammed the ring down on the desk and walked out of his office.

"Maya, wait," Jordan exclaimed, sliding himself off of the desk and going after her, leaving Olivia standing, confused. He reached Maya as she waited for the elevator, and grabbed her arm so she couldn't move. "Just let me explain."

"Get off of me," she commanded sternly, ripping her arm from his grasp. "Listen to me, Jordan. You cheated, and I'm not just going to look past that. We're through. We're not getting married. And if you try to weasel your way back into by life, I won't  
hesitate to request a restraining order. Do you understand me?"

She didn't even give him a chance to say anything before stepping into the elevator and pressing the 'door close' button. Thankfully, he didn't try to wrench open the doors or stop them in any way.

When she reached the bottom floor, Mrs. Granger looked surprised that she'd come back so quickly.

"That was quick," she commented. "Is everything alright?"

Maya didn't answer, she just walked past the desk and to the giant glass doors. She didn't want Mrs. Granger to see the tears that were falling fast down her cheeks and assume the worst, even though it seemed like the worst had happened.

"Maya!" the older woman called, but Maya pushed through the doors and practically ran to her car. Once she was safely inside her car, she rested her head against the steering wheel and started to cry uncontrollably.

The first thing she thought was that she couldn't believe it. But then again, yes she could. It hadn't been the first time, and she felt stupid for not seeing this coming. When they had only been dating a few months, she found messages in his phone from  
some girl in California, where he had taken a business trip earlier in their relationship. She'd called him out on it, and he claimed that he had no idea why the girl was texting him in the first place. She believed him, and they got over it together.

But now… This was so much worse than that had been. Back then, she could've gotten over him easily. Now, she was planning on spending the rest of her life with him and something like this would leave her with a scar that wouldn't heal for a while. That  
had only been some messages (at least that she'd witnessed) and this had been so much more.

And the fact that he'd been ripping the clothes off of the same exact girl that caused her to turn Josh away made her even angrier. Both at him and at Olivia. Even at Josh, in some small way.

It had been six months since she'd told Josh to get out of her life, and she hadn't seen or heard from him since. She heard from Riley that he had moved into his new apartment well, and that he was comfortable where he was in his life. His job was apparently  
steady and he was happy with it.

Maya caught herself suddenly. She wasn't supposed to be thinking about Josh. He was gone. Out of her life, and out of her mind. She pulled herself out of her crying fit and started the car. When she reached her apartment, she found an unfamiliar black  
truck parked in her usual spot. Thinking it was a bit unusual, she parked in the next spot over, but then pushed it out of her mind.

After turning off the car, she pulled the visor down and looked at herself in the mirror. She reached into her bag and pulled out a makeup wipe, which she used to clean the mascara stains and tear-stained foundation off her face. Then she looked herself  
right in the eye and thought, _Don't let this get to you_. But she knew that it was stupid to think that. She knew that it would get to her, no matter how strong and independent of a woman she was. She knew that she'd be up late at night, even  
after she'd moved on, asking herself why she wasn't enough for him. Why he needed more.

She took a deep breath before getting out of the car, hoping that no one on her way up to her apartment would notice that she was about to cry at the drop of a hat.

Thankfully, they didn't. Or if they did, they didn't say anything. The doorman was grumpy as usual, and the neighbors that she passed said nothing but a friendly 'hello'.

Maya managed to get an elevator alone, where she pulled out her phone and started to call Riley. She caught herself before it started to ring, however, and realized that an eight-months-pregnant Riley probably wanted to rest more than she wanted to help  
Maya deal with her problems.

Who could she call, then? She needed to talk to someone or she felt she might explode from the building sadness and anger. Her parents were in Venezuela, where Shawn was working on a photo essay. The cell service was bad where they were staying, so there  
would be no way Maya could hold even the smallest conversation with her mother without being interrupted, let alone one where she could explain what had happened. Farkle and Isadora were travelling in Europe for their honeymoon, and Maya didn't want  
to put a damper on that with woes from her own failed relationship. Zay was in living in Texas at the moment, doing who-knows-what. She hadn't heard from him in a while, and he probably didn't want to receive an out-of-the-blue phone call from her,  
especially not one where she was crying and asking him for help with her problems. That left the Matthews. Auggie could care less about her relationship. Topanga was working on an extremely hard case at work, and Maya didn't want to add to that stress.  
And Cory…well, let's just say Cory Matthews was the last person she wanted involved in her love life.

When the elevator reached her apartment on the fifth floor, she was frustrated in addition to all of the other swirling emotions in her head. She needed to talk to someone to let it all out, and she didn't care who it was. It could even be Joshua Matthews,  
who up until then was the last person (next to Jordan, of course) that she wanted to see.

As she pulled out her keys, the tears started to pool up in her eyes, making it difficult for her to see the door as she unlocked it.

But she was able to clearly see someone sitting on her couch. Someone she hadn't seen in months. Someone that she was almost overjoyed to see sitting on her couch again, as if the past six months hadn't happened and he was still staying with her. Someone  
with brown hair and blue eyes that she couldn't possibly forget if she tried.

Josh turned his head to look at her, and stood up immediately. "Maya, I know you said you didn't want to see me again, but I-I forgot to give you your key back and I only just realized it the other day and-" he stopped suddenly, seeing the tears falling  
down her cheeks. "What's wrong?" he asked.

He seemed so genuinely concerned that Maya couldn't hold it in anymore, and she threw herself into his arms and started to sob uncontrollably. He seemed surprised, but then wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back soothingly.

"Jordan, he-he…" Maya tried, her voice muffled by his shirt, but she was cut off by another wave of tears.

Josh frowned. "Did he hurt you?" he demanded, pulling himself away from her to search her arms and her face for any signs of physical abuse.

Maya shook her head. "Not like that." She sat down on the couch, wrapping a fleece blanket around her shoulders, and Josh followed suit.

She sat there and spilled everything that had happened in the past few hours. Josh was a great listener, getting angry in the right places and being her shoulder to cry on through the whole story.

"I guess I just don't understand," Maya said as soon as she had finished.

"You don't understand what?" Josh asked, fiddling with a piece of her hair. Maya had noticed that they had gotten a lot closer since she began talking. She was practically sitting on his lap, and he was now sharing the blanket with her.

"Why he did it," she explained. "Was I not enough for him? Did he need more?"

Josh shot her a stern look. "Don't think like that Maya. You were too good for him."

"He didn't seem to think that," Maya muttered.

"Then he must be the stupidest man in the world," Josh said, drawing even closer to her. "Because you are more than enough, and no one compares to you."

With his face so close to her, she found that she couldn't think straight. She barely registered his eyes quickly dropping to her lips and back up again. He leaned in and kissed her ever so gently, and ever so tentatively, but then pulled away almost  
immediately afterwards.

He barely had time to search her eyes for any signs of anger before she kissed him back with much more intensity, much more hunger. And suddenly neither of them held back, pouring their pent-up feelings into each other, forgetting everything that was  
going on in their lives that wasn't this moment.

It wasn't until his lips were on her neck and his hands were tugging at the hem of her blouse that she stopped and realized what she was doing.

"Josh," she said breathlessly, taking his hands in hers and pushing them away from her body. "Maybe we should stop."

Josh nodded, then swallowed hard. "You're right," he said. "I'm sorry."

Maya shook her head. "It wasn't your fault."

An awkward silence fell over them. Her hands were holding his, and they were still almost in each other's laps, which made it even more awkward. Maya bit her lip.

What had she just done? She'd broken up with her fiancée only an hour or two earlier, and now she had her hands all over Josh? What was wrong with her? She knew she was only causing herself more harm by doing this, and was probably hurting Josh in the  
process as well, which was something that she didn't want to do.

He squeezed her hand gently, breaking the tension between them. "Are you okay?"

Maya closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "I don't know," she told him honestly.

"Do you need me to go?" he asked.

"C-can you just stay for a little bit longer?" Maya asked.

"Of course," Josh agreed softly.

Maya rested her head on his shoulder, not caring what he thought of it. She was tired, and she needed someone to lean on at the moment. He didn't seem to mind, so they sat there like that for a couple of minutes, listening to each other's steady breaths.

"Maya?" he spoke, breaking the quietness in the room.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry for leaving," he said quietly. Maya didn't know if he was referring to the first time he left, or to the time he left after their argument, but she didn't care.

"I forgive you," Maya told him. She meant it with her whole heart, too.

She snuggled closer to his body and let the silence of the night combined with the steady rise and fall of Josh's chest lull her into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Maya awoke on her couch. Her head was propped up on a pillow, and a blanket was draped over her body.

Remembering last night, she sat up and looked around the room for Josh. He was nowhere to be found, but a steaming cup of coffee and a piece of notebook paper sat on the coffee table.

Maya reached over and picked up both, holding the coffee with one hand and reading the note with the other.

 _Maya,_

 _So we obviously have to talk. I had to leave early for work, so we can't do it today. And I think that's for the better. I think that you should take some time to think about it before we do talk. I know I need to think about it too. This…thing we have is messed up, and I hope we can fix it. Call me when you're ready to talk._

 _Josh_

Maya slowly set the note down and took a sip out of her coffee. It was just the way she liked it, with only a bit of cream and sugar. Josh knew her well.

He was right, too. There was so much to think about when it came to their relationship. She wondered if he still loved her. If those feelings were still there. They were six months ago, but that was before she told him to get out of her life. That was  
before she told him that _of course_ she would choose Jordan. What a mistake that had turned out to be.

What about herself? Did she have feelings for Josh? Or was she just not thinking clearly the night before?

Maya frowned. Her head might've been a little fuzzy due to the swirling emotions, but she knew what she was doing with Josh and it was deliberate. Did that mean that those feelings from all those years ago were back? Or did they ever even leave? She thought  
they had disappeared when she saw him at Riley and Lucas's wedding all those years ago, but maybe she was just confused with the new feelings she was discovering about Jordan at that time.

Maya shook herself suddenly. Even if she did love Josh, even if those feelings were resurfacing (or whatever it was that they were doing), there was no way she could even consider being with him. Not now. Not right after breaking up with Jordan. What  
if Josh left again? He'd done it before, so what would stop him from doing it again? After that, she'd be left confused and heartbroken, probably to a point where she wouldn't be able to recover for a long while.

It just wasn't the right time.

* * *

Maya's heart skipped a beat when her phone rang. She was just getting off from work and was walking to her snow-covered car when it did, and she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to fumble around in her purse for the phone.

It had been five days since that night with Josh, and Maya had decided that it was time to talk to him. She'd really thought about it during the past few days, but she was too scared to call him. She didn't really know what she was afraid of, but the  
fear was there and she hadn't called him because of it. So she was holding on to the hope that _he_ would call _her_.

She didn't even bother to look at the caller ID as she picked up the phone.

"Hello?" she asked, crossing her fingers and hoping that it was Josh on the other end.

"Maya?"

It was Lucas, and he sounded extremely panicked.

"Maya, Riley's water just broke," Lucas continued.

"What?" Maya cried. "She's not due for another six weeks!"

"Well, she said it happened, and so I'm driving her to the hospital now…"

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Maya said.

"Please hurry," Lucas pleaded.

"I will. Try to stay calm, okay Lucas? Everything will be okay."

"Okay," he agreed, then hung up.

She got into her car as quickly as she could. The hospital was halfway across the city, so she couldn't waste time.

 **Author's Note #2:**

 **I hope you liked this chapter! I enjoyed writing it for you guys, as I always do.**

 **Please leave me a review telling me what you thought of this chapter, OH AND ALSO tell me what you want Riley and Lucas's baby's name and gender to be! I'd love to hear your suggestions.**

 **The one-shot that I promised is coming along, but like I said at the beginning of the chapter, I've been super busy. And only two people said that they'd be interested in it. So, if you'd like to see a one-shot about what happened at Riley and Maya's graduation, tell me in your review!**

 **Thank you guys for reading! Love ya'll!**

 **~SmartyPants210**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note #1**

 **Hello my lovelies! How are you on this fine day? I'm doing just fine, thank you for asking (if you did).**

 **Welcome back to this story! I've finally updated again! I know, it's been a while. It's the usual schoolwork and volleyball. But, good news! Volleyball season is coming to an end this week, so I'll have** **wayyy more time to write now. (Well, that's good news for you guys. I'm sad that the season's over.)**

 **So, this chapter picks up right where the last one ended, and I put a little refresher of the last scene in there so you wouldn't have to go back if you've forgotten. THE RUCAS BABY COMES IN THIS CHAPTER! AHH!**

 **Anyways, without further ado, let's get on with this chapter!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Girl Meets World.**

Chapter Six.

 _previously…_

 _"_ _Hello?" she asked, crossing her fingers and hoping that it was Josh on the other end._

 _"_ _Maya?"_

 _It was Lucas, and he sounded extremely panicked._

 _"_ _Maya, Riley's water just broke," Lucas continued._

 _"_ _What?" Maya cried. "She's not due for another six weeks!"_

 _"_ _Well, she said it happened, and so I'm driving her to the hospital now…"  
"I'll be there as soon as I can," Maya said._

 _"_ _Please hurry," Lucas pleaded._

 _"_ _I will. Try to stay calm, okay Lucas? Everything will be okay."_

 _"_ _Okay," he agreed, then hung up._

 _She got into her car as quickly as she could. The hospital was halfway across the city, so she couldn't waste time._

Maya tried to stop horrible thoughts from entering her head as she drove through the busy streets of the city, but ultimately couldn't. What if everything wasn't okay?

Riley was about to have a baby six weeks before it was due. Maya knew that premature babies faced many medical complications that full-term babies were less likely to face, and she was extremely worried. What if something happened to the baby? What if something happened to _Riley_?

Blinking away tears that were forming in her eyes, Maya tried to drive faster. Anything to get her to the hospital quicker.

She got to the hospital around six, just as the sun was setting. She rushed into the waiting room, where she found the Matthews and a few of the Friars. Topanga stood up as soon as she entered the room, and wrapped Maya in a huge bear-hug.

"She's getting ready for a C-section right now," Topanga said gently as she stroked Maya's hair. Cory hugged her next.

"Your parents are on their way back," he explained. "They'll be back from Venezuela tomorrow."

Maya proceeded to hug Auggie, then Lucas's parents, and then Farkle and Isadora, who had gotten back from their honeymoon the day before.

"Maya," said a deep voice from behind her as soon as she pulled out of her embrace with Smakle.

Maya turned around and came face-to-face with Josh, who she wrapped her arms around immediately. He did the same, and the warmth and familiarity of his arms caused her to start crying all over again.

"I'm so scared, Josh," she admitted into his t-shirt so only he could hear. Everyone else seemed to be leaving them be anyway, but she didn't want to risk them hearing her.

"It'll be okay Maya," he assured her.

Maya pulled away the slightest bit. "How do you know?" she asked.

Josh pulled away more. "I just do." He took her hand and sat down with her in the uncomfortable waiting room chairs. "Did I ever tell you when I was born?"

"On February 14, of course," Maya said, not seeing how this would explain how he 'just knew' that it'd be okay.

Josh chuckled. "That's not what I meant," he said, then paused before continuing. "I was a preemie too."

Maya's eyes grew wide. "Really?"

Josh nodded. "Yep. Six weeks early, just like Riley's baby."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" she asked.

"Would you have guessed?" he countered.

Maya shook her head, and Josh squeezed her hand, smiling a bit.

"See? I turned out just fine," he said. "And Riley's child will too. Okay?"

Maya nodded, feeling better about the whole thing.

"Hey, we should talk," Josh said after a few moments of awkward silence.

Maya frowned. "I don't think this is the right time, Josh."

"Why not?" Josh asked. "We're going to be sitting here for a while, so we might as well talk about _something_."

Maya sighed. "I guess you're right."

"So, have you thought about what happened the other night?" Josh asked.

Maya nodded. "I have."

There was an awkward pause, before Maya realized that Josh probably wanted her to tell him what she thought about.

Maya took a deep breath. "Look Josh, I don't think that now is the right time for this" -she gestured between the two of them- "to happen."

She didn't miss the way Josh's face fell when she told him that, nor did she miss the disappointed tone in his voice when he asked her, "So you didn't mean anything that you did the other night? Because I know I did."

Maya sighed, massaging her temples with her fingers. "I don't _know_ , Josh," she confessed.

"I thought you said you thought about this," Josh said.

"I did," Maya said ardently. "But I'm still so confused about the whole thing."

"Is there anything you _do_ know?" Josh asked.

Maya reached over and took his hand, locking eyes with him as well. "I do know that I want you back in my life, if that's alright with you."

Josh smiled at her. "Of course that's alright with me," he said.

"Good, because I don't know if I could handle spending anymore of my life without you," Maya told him.

"Neither can I."

Maya let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. This was easier than she thought it'd be, and now it was over with. She and Josh's relationship was back on track.

Suddenly, Maya heard two words that she hadn't heard from Josh since she was in high school.

"Long game?" he asked.

Her head snapped up and she stared at him for a moment, surprised. But then her gaze relaxed, and she smiled the tiniest but. "Long game," she confirmed, leaning over and resting her head on his shoulder. There, she smiled to herself, hardly able to contain her joy.

There was a lull in the conversation and Maya felt herself falling asleep. Right before she drifted off, she heard Josh say, "I'll wait for you Maya."

* * *

It was a few more hours of waiting in the cold, weirdly-smelling hospital room before the elevator doors opened to reveal an exhausted-looking Lucas. His face broke into a wide smile when he saw his family, however, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Everything went smoothly," he said, "and we have a beautiful baby girl named Jessica Penelope Friar."

As everyone went to hug Lucas, Maya stayed behind, feeling tears forming in her eyes. Not only was the baby okay, but Riley named it after her. It was only her middle name, but it was still extremely touching.

"Riley's resting in her room right now and Jessica is in the NICU," Lucas told them. "The doctors are running some tests right now, but you should be able to go see the baby in an hour or two."

Lucas took them all up to Riley's room, making half of them stay in the hallway and wait quietly while the others talked to her.

Maya waited with Farkle, Smakle, Josh, and Auggie while Lucas and Riley's parents went in to greet Riley. She talked with Farkle and Smakle about their honeymoon while Josh talked to Auggie about school, but the two didn't leave each other's side until they went into Riley's room.

"Peaches!" Riley exclaimed rather tiredly as soon as they walked into the room.

"Hey Riles," Maya said, smiling proudly at her best friend. She walked over and gingerly sat on the bed next to her as Riley greeted the others.

"How are you feeling?" Farkle asked, concern etched into his features.

Riley smiled. "Well, I'm a bit sore, but they're keeping me well medicated and to be honest, I'm just happy it's over and she's here."

"That's good," Smakle said.

"What about Huckleberry?" Maya asked, ever the one to poke fun at Lucas. "Did he faint?"

"I didn't faint, oh you of little faith," Lucas retorted. "I did just fine, thank you very much. You know, I think we should reconsider making her of all people the godmother of Jessica." He addressed Riley with the last sentence.

Maya's breath hitched, and she felt the tears returning to her eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. "You want me to be the godmother of your baby?" she asked, searching Riley's eyes for any sign that this could be a joke.

Riley nodded. "Of course I do," she said. "Who else would it be?"

Smakle cleared her throat. "I'm standing right here you know."

Riley's head turned suddenly and the look on her face was one of regret that she'd said anything with her other best girl friend standing right there.

"Oh, Smakle, I-I didn't mean it like that, it's just I've known Maya longer and I really-"

"I'm kidding, Riley," Smakle said. "I knew it'd be Maya. Like you said, who else would it be?"

Riley breathed a giant sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness."

"But Maya, seriously, we want you to be Jessica's godmother, if that's alright with you," Lucas said.

"If that's alright?!" Maya exclaimed. "Of course that's alright! Thank you so much you guys!" She wrapped her arms around Riley, then stood up and did the same to Lucas.

"Who's going to be the godfather?" Farkle asked, raising an eyebrow and pointing at himself.

Riley smirked. "I guess it'll be whoever ends up marrying Maya." She flicked her gaze up to Josh for the briefest of moments, only long enough for Maya to notice. Maya glared at her.

"Aw, man," Farkle said, disappointed. "Why, oh why did I have to fall for this minx instead of that one?" He cried dramatically, gesturing from Smakle to Maya.

Maya turned to smile at Farkle. "You never even had a chance with me."

Farkle smiled back. "I know."

The group talked for a little while longer before a nurse came in and told them that Riley needed her rest and that they could come back to see her the next day.

The others had already gone to see Jessica in the NICU, so their group made their way to the little room where she was. She lay in a little plastic box that had two holes on either side of it, so the doctors could interact with her without exposing her to too much of the world yet. Her little ID tag was on the side of the box as well, and Maya read it just to make sure she hadn't been imagining things when Lucas had said her name. It did, in fact, read _Jessica Penelope Friar_.

Maya let the other three go before her, and waited until they'd joined the others outside in the viewing area before she peered into the box.

Her heart immediately swelled with love for the squirming little bundle, and once again her eyes filled with tears.

"Um, hi Jessica," she said softly, wiping her eyes with her fingers. "I'm Maya. I'm your godmother." She put her hands on the side of the box, trying to imagine what it would be like to hold the baby. "I hope you get all better really soon, so you can go home with your Mom and Dad. They'll be great parents; I just know it. In fact, you have the best family that you could ever imagine. You've got your grandparents, who are the most loving people that I know. Then you've got a pretty darn cool uncle Auggie. Then you've got your Uncle Farkle and Aunt Smakle, who are the nerdiest people I know." She paused, chuckling. "But they also care so much about everyone. You'll love them as well. And then…there's Josh. I guess he's technically your great-uncle." She looked up to where she could see Josh talking to Cory and Topanga. He caught her eye and smiled. "And who knows," she said, smiling back at him, "maybe he'll be your godfather one day."

She wiped her eyes again and sniffed. "There are so many more people in this crazy family, people who already love you more than you can imagine. Some days they'll drive you up the wall, and some days you might hurt them, but in the end nothing will separate you from them. Because they're your family, and they love you no matter what happens…trust me. I'd know."

She kissed her hand and then pressed it against the side of the box. It was the closest she'd get to actually kissing the precious child, and she'd take what she could get. "Welcome to the family Jessica."

From the corner of the room there was smattering applause, and Maya looked up to see two parents that she hadn't seen when she came in sitting with their newborn, clapping for her.

"That was beautiful," the mother said, wiping tears from her own eyes.

Maya smiled at her gratefully before turning toward the door and leaving.

"You okay Maya?" Josh asked as she walked over to him.

Maya nodded. "I was just telling Jessica about her family."

Josh smiled. "She does have a great one, doesn't she?"

Maya looked around at all the beautiful people around her and smiled. "She really does."

* * *

Maya arrived at her house around midnight, and crashed on her couch as soon as she did, not even bothering to take off her makeup or put on pajamas. Just before she fell asleep, however, she got a text from an unknown number.

 _Hey, Maya. This is Olivia…yes, that Olivia. I know you're probably pissed at me right now, and confused as to why I'm even contacting you in the first place. But I really wanted to explain myself to you and apologize for everything that has happened over the last few months. If it's alright with you, I'd like to meet for lunch sometime soon. I've heard of a lovely little place called 'Topanga's' and I'd like to see if it's any good. I'll be there at eleven o'clock on Tuesday. Don't come if you don't feel comfortable with it. I completely understand if you don't._

 **Author's Note #2**

 **Thank you for reading this chapter! I loved writing that scene with Maya talking to Jessica. (And yes, the name Jessica is related to Jexica.) I just thought it was really sweet.**

 **Things are progressing with Maya and Josh, and now Olivia wants to talk to Maya! What do you guys think she'll do? (And Olivia is the one who was with Josh when Maya found him in her living room and the one that Jordan cheated on Maya with. Did you know that already? I didn't know if you'd remember. I only mentioned her name like three times.)**

 **ALSO, the one shot about graduation is up now, if you haven't seen it already. You probably have, it's been up for like two weeks.**

 **Please leave me a review telling me what you liked or disliked about this chapter. I love reading your reviews, it puts a huge smile on my face whenever I read them.**

 **Until next time (which I hope will be sooner rather than later),**

 **~SmartyPants210**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author** **'s Note #1**

 **Hey guys! It's been a while...sorry.**

 **Yet again, I have a busy** **schedule that allows me little time to write. However, we shall not focus on that. We shall only focus on the fact that I did actually update. Yay!**

 **Okay so in the last chapter I got sixteen reviews, which is more than I have on any of my other chapters! Omg I cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate all the sweet reviews you guys leave me. They honestly make my day better. Also, thanks to everyone who still follows this story, because I know my sporadic updating schedule is probably annoying.**

 **Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this chapter.** **Without further ado, let's get on with it!**

 **I DONT OWN GIRL MEETS WORLD!**

Chapter Seven.

"So let me get this straight," Riley said as she bustled about her kitchen, preparing dinner for her little family. "You are going to have lunch tomorrow with the girl that your ex-fiancé cheated on you with? And the girl who Josh hooked up with in your living room?"

Maya sighed softly, trying her hardest not to wake the sleeping baby in her arms. "I am."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Riley asked. "You could always say no."  
"Look, I don't think Olivia is the bad guy here," said Maya. "And I want to give her a chance."

"Still, I know you," Riley said. "And I know that this will make you uncomfortable. You can say no if you want."

"It's only lunch," Maya said. "If I get uncomfortable, I'll leave."

* * *

Maya walked into the Topanga's cautiously, looking around for anyone she might recognize as Olivia. After all, she'd only ever seen her twice, so she wasn't able to pick her out in a crowd. Thankfully neither her mom nor Topanga was working at this time.

"Maya?" A soft, sweet voice came from her right, and Maya turned to see the tall blonde she was looking for waving her over from one of the booths lining the wall. Immediately Maya found herself feeling envious of the woman's model-like appearance.

She forced a smiled onto her face and walked over to the table. "Olivia," she greeted as pleasantly as she could, sitting down across from her.

Conveniently, the waitress came over and took their orders almost immediately after she sat down, so the two didn't have the time to make small talk. After the waitress left, however, an awkward silence fell over their table.

After a few minutes of finger-drumming and pretending to be interested in their surroundings, Olivia spoke up.

"I, um…Maya, I want you to know that I'm sorry about everything that happened." She said quietly, unsure as to how Maya was about to respond.

Maya looked up from her fingernails, which had become quite intriguing once the waitress had left. She didn't have the chance to say anything before Olivia continued.

"I honestly never knew Jordan even had a girlfriend, let alone a fiancée..."

Maya felt the familiar pain in her heart that she'd been feeling a lot in the past week at the mention of Jordan. Of course, she expected to hear about him during this little lunch-in fact, she came here to do just that. But it still hurt to even hear his name, let alone hear that the woman that he cheated on her with didn't even know she existed.

"Josh was the one who wouldn't shut up about you, and you two aren't even together," Olivia continued.

And then that other feeling in her heart that she'd been feeling in the past few days showed up. Funnily enough, that feeling came up whenever Josh was mentioned.

"Josh was talking about me?" Maya asked.

Olivia nodded. "Like I said –he wouldn't shut up about you. It was actually kind of annoying. I mean, would you want to hear all about some other girl when you're on a date with a guy?"

Maya shook her head absentmindedly. Josh was talking about her the whole time he was with Olivia?

"Like I said, I'm really sorry about the whole thing with Jordan. You must be devastated," Olivia said.

Maya looked away. "Something like that…"

"I really didn't know anything about a fiancée," she continued. "It's just that I'm new in New York, and I don't know anyone here, and he helped me get a job and find some friends."

Maya bit her lip, wondering if now was a good time to bring up the question that she'd been dying to ask Olivia ever since she'd received her text. Deciding that it was, she took a deep breath before asking, "H-how long had that been going on before I found out?"

"Well, I met him a few weeks before hooking up with Josh, and we started to date a few weeks after that…so I'd say it was around five months."

Maya bit her lip again, this time in order to banish the tears that were forming in her eyes. "And he didn't tell you about me once?"

Olivia shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"No, i-it's not your fault," Maya said. "I'm just surprised, is all."

"I was too," Olivia said.

"I thought Jordan was the nicest guy, and I never thought in a million years he'd ever do anything like this." Maya paused. "But maybe I should've expected it, because when he found out about Josh he got super aggressive and kind of just…changed."

Olivia took a sip of coffee. "Maybe that's why."

Maya frowned. "Maybe what's why?"

"Maybe that's why he cheated," Olivia explained. "Maybe he thought you were cheating too."

"What are you trying to say?" Maya demanded. "That this wasn't his fault?"

Olivia shrugged, and took another sip of her coffee.

"I pushed Josh away when he tried to make a move on me!" Maya said angrily. "I would never cheat on anyone, especially not my soon-to-be husband! This was entirely Jordan's fault!"

Olivia put her perfectly-manicured hands up defensively. "Hey, I'm _not_ on his side. I'm just looking for reasons."

"Well, me cheating isn't a reason," Maya grumbled.

"That's good," Olivia said, lifting her mug up to her lips.

There was an awkward pause before Olivia spoke up once more.

"So, you said that you pushed Josh away," she said. "What happened there?"

"Right after you left, Josh kissed me and told me he was still in love with me," Maya explained shortly.

"Still?" Olivia questioned, raising her eyebrows.

"We've known each other for a really long time," Maya said. "Anyway, since I was still with Jordan, I pushed him away."

"Are you still angry with him?" Olivia asked.

Maya felt her cheeks heat up, sure that she was red a tomato. "No, we made up."  
"Oh, so you would know if he…"

"What?" Maya asked, even though she could guess where Olivia was going with this.

"You would know if he had a girlfriend," Olivia said rather shyly.

"Why?" Maya asked defensively.

"Maya, we had real chemistry that night," Olivia said. "I mean, when he wasn't talking about you. I think that now that he's over you…"

"Who says he's over me?"

"Well, you said you pushed him away," she pointed out. "That would make me get over someone pretty quickly."

"I know he's not over me," Maya said, albeit not very confidently.

"How?" Olivia questioned, raising an eyebrow and taking a sip of her coffee. "Are you guys together?"

"Well, no, not exactly…"

"I see," Olivia said. "It's complicated."

Maya nodded. "Yeah, that's definitely a word for it."

Olivia's phone buzzed on the table, and she picked it up, reading the message displayed on the screen.

"Looks like I have to go," she said, sliding out of the booth. "Thank you so much for coming. I honestly didn't think you would."

"You're welcome," Maya said. "It was nice to see you again."

Olivia started to walk away, but then she stopped. "Here, let me put my number in your phone."

Maya handed it over, and Olivia quickly typed in the phone number.

"Call me, okay?" she said, handing the phone back to Maya. "I'd like to do this again."

 _Yes, well, I wouldn't,_ Maya thought as the other woman turned and walked away. She looked at the phone in her hand.

 _Olivia Bradford_.

Bradford. _Bradford._ She recognized the name, but she didn't know from where.

* * *

A few days later, as Maya was working at Topanga's, her phone buzzed. She picked it up, and saw a message from Josh.

 _Do you want to have lunch? I'm free today._

Maya considered it. It had been a slow morning, and there was no promise of the café getting any busier at lunchtime. She was sure that her mom would let her go if she really wanted to. However, she really needed the hours.

 _I can't, working. Next time?_

She set down her phone, and then got to work wiping down all the tables and counters. There were only four tables seated, and the biggest number of people at one table was two. It was quiet except for one person typing on their computer, the occasional clinking of mugs against plates, and a quiet conversation between two people at a table that wasn't in her section.

It was warm inside the café, a stark contrast to the snowy and cold outdoors. Maya shivered when the door opened behind her.

A man walked in, and he was so bundled up that Maya couldn't see his face. He walked over and sat right at the counter in her section, so she finished the table she was cleaning and walked over to him.

"What can I get for you today, sir?" she asked, not looking up at him as she slipped her pen and pad of paper out of her apron.

"I will have a coffee, please," the man said.

She immediately recognized the sound of his voice, and her head snapped up to see a certain Joshua Matthews grinning boyishly at her.

Maya rolled her eyes and slipped the paper and pen back into her apron. "What are you doing here?"  
"You said you were working," he said, "but I wasn't going to let that stop me from having lunch with you."

"I can't believe you," she said. "How'd you get here so fast?"

"I was in the area," he told her. "I actually work a few blocks away."

"Oh," Maya said, raising her eyebrows. "Then maybe you should come here for lunch more often."

"Only when you're here," he promised. "I don't flirt with _all_ the cute waitresses, you know."

Maya blushed and smiled at him.

"And I'm serious about that coffee," Josh said.

Maya reached down below the counter to grab a mug, only to discover that there wasn't any left. "Let me just go grab a mug," she said. "I'll be right back."

She pushed through the doors into the kitchen and grabbed a mug from the clean rack of dishes.

"Is that Josh I see?" her mom asked from the refrigerator, where she was neatly stacking the new shipment of fruit.

Maya bit her lip, contemplating whether or not to tell her mom. "Yeah, it is," she said.

Katy gave her a look, and Maya rolled her eyes before walking back out to Josh.

When she reached the counter, she saw a familiar head of blonde hair sitting next to him.

"Olivia?" she asked as sweetly as she could. She forced a smile. "What're you doing here?"

Olivia's face lit up with a 100-watt smile. "Maya!" she greeted cheerfully. "I came here to talk to you, but I guess Josh here beat me to it!"

Maya looked Olivia over. She was wearing too much makeup to be considered a daytime look and a low-cut sweater that showed off the perfect amount of cleavage.

 _'_ _Came here to see me' my ass,_ Maya thought to herself. She was clearly there to see someone that was not her.

Maya set the mug down in front of Josh and pulled out her pad of paper and pen. "Can I get you something, Olivia?"

"Aw look at you being a waitress!" Olivia gushed. "That outfit looks so cute on you!"

Maya ignored the false tone in her voice. "Anything?"

"Just a water," Olivia requested.

Maya slipped her paper and pen away and reached over to grab the coffee pot from its heater. She began to pour the coffee into the mug, at first paying attention to what she was doing. But as Olivia began talking to Josh, she couldn't help but stare at the two of them.

"You know, Josh, it's been a while since we hooked up," Olivia said, trailing a few fingers over Josh's forearm. "I'd like you to know that the offer still stands." She winked at him.

 _The little bitch!_ Maya exclaimed in her head. _I told her that Josh and I had something going on, and she has the nerve to come here and-_

"Maya," Josh called firmly, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"What?" she snapped, but suddenly realized why he was getting her attention. She hadn't yet stopped pouring, and the mug was overflowing. Coffee was all over the counter and on the floor, soaking her sneakers. To make things worse, the instant she realized what was going on, her hand flew out and she knocked the mug on the floor, shattering it to pieces. "Shit!" she exclaimed loudly. All the costumers turned their heads sharply at the profane exclamation.

Maya looked back at Josh and Olivia. Josh had a horrified look on his face, and Olivia was snickering behind a perfectly manicured hand.

She quickly walked back to the kitchen to grab towels, and by the time she came back, Olivia had left.

Maya avoided Josh's eyes at all costs, and knelt on the ground to wipe up the mess. When she reached for the broken shards of ceramic with her bare hands, Josh spoke up.

"Maya, don't do that," he told her, his voice laced with concern "You'll cut yourself."

Maya retracted her hand and stood up to clean the counter. "When are you going on your date?" she asked, not even attempting to hide the bitterness in her voice.

Josh sighed. "Maya, I didn't say yes."

Maya paused. "You didn't?"

Josh reached over and lifted her chin up. "Maya look at me."

She looked up into his eyes.

"I told you that I'd wait for you," he said. "And I meant it."

"Really?" she asked.

"Of course," he confirmed. "Long game, right?"

She nodded. "Long game."

 **Author's Note #2**

 **And we're back!**

 **I hope you liked this chapter, so please leave me a review telling me what you thought. Like I said, you guys's reviews always make me feel really really happy.**

 **Now for some bad news: I am not going to update until after the holidays have past. You know how busy it gets this time of year, and it seems that my holidays this year are going to be crazy busy and dramatic. Having the pressure of trying to update in the midst of all that will just be insane. So I'm going to take a little break until January. BUT DON'T WORRY. I will still be busy working on this as much as I can. Who knows, maybe I'll finish it by the time January rolls around! (JK that's not going to happen)**

 **Anyway, thanks so much for putting up with the crazy updates and continuing to read this story! I love you all! Happy holidays!  
**

 **Until next time,**

 **~SmartyPants210**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey Everybody! I'm baack!**

 **So, it's been a while, hasn't it? Like I predicted in the previous chapter, December was hectic af. Holidays kinda suck sometimes. Then, right after that, we had exams! Yay! I love exams! (I don't love exams.) Then, the week after that (this previous week), I was sick. So, yeah. All of that happened. But hey, I did get this up in January! Now, enough excuses!**

 **I just want to say thank you guys so much for reading this story and for all the love that you give it. OMG, guys, there were 19 reviews on the last chapter! Ahhh! I appreciate your reviews so so so much, they are what help me keep writing this story. Lots of love and cyber hugs for you guys! 3**

 **I DON'T OWN GIRL MEETS WORLD.**

Chapter Eight.

Josh watched Maya as she laughed at a joke that Shawn had cracked. He absolutely adored her smile, especially since he had rarely been graced with it in the past months since he'd come back into her life.

The Matthews and the Harts (and Ava) were currently together for another Sunday family dinner. They had begun this tradition way back when Shawn and Katy had gotten married, but it quickly died away after Riley and Maya had graduated. Everyone quickly got busy after that, and they spread to different parts of the city (or world, in Josh's case).

Now that everyone was finally back together and moving closer, Topanga suggested that they return to the old tradition, and here they were. Cory sat at the head of the table, his wife on one side and his daughter on the other. Maya sat next to Riley (Lucas was working), and Josh sat next to Topanga. So, since he was sitting directly across from Maya, he could sneak glances at her when she wasn't watching, which he very much enjoyed.

"Josh," Auggie spoke from beside his entranced uncle, elbowing him. "You're drooling."

Josh snapped out of his trance and took his eyes off the blonde beauty, who took the opportunity to sneak a glance at him while he addressed his nephew.

"What, like you've never stared at a pretty girl?" He countered, raising his eyebrows and let out a cough that strangely sounded like he was saying 'Ava'.

"That's different," Auggie said, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's waist, who turned and gave him a peck on the cheek before returning to her conversation with Katy.

"How so?" Josh asked.

"You see, Ava and I actually in a relationship," Auggie said. "You and Maya aren't."

Josh nodded. "Okay, okay. That's fair."

When Josh turned back to Maya, she was taking her goddaughter from Riley's arms, cooing inaudibly to the infant. Josh quickly averted his eyes before he started to stare again. That was even worse than her smile. Whenever she picked up that darn baby…that woman would be the death of him.

"So Josh," Topanga started, turning to her brother-in-law. "How is your apartment coming along? I heard you found a guy who can help you with the decorating?"

"Yeah, I don't know if that's going to work out," Josh said. "He's asking for a pretty large amount of money; something that I can't really afford right now."

"You're hiring a guy to decorate your place?" Maya asked, making her way into the conversation. "You could just ask me, after all I was helping you do it before."

"You'd help me decorate it?" Josh asked.

"Of course I'd help you decorate it, Josh," Maya assured him. "I helped you pick everything out in the first place."

"That would be great, Maya," Josh said.

"Okay, when are you free?" Maya asked.

"How's Thursday?"

"It's a date," Maya said.

Suddenly, Shawn started choking on his water from beside his step-daughter. "A date?" he asked once his coughing settled.

Josh looked at Maya, expecting her to say something along the lines of, 'no, not that kind of date', but instead she surprised him. She smiled, and said, "Yeah, a date."

Josh grinned back at her.

* * *

Josh woke up Thursday morning to knocking at his door. He got out of bed and glanced at the time. _Nine in the morning?_ That was awfully early, especially for him on a day that he didn't have to work.

Reluctantly, he went to open the door to his apartment, only to find Maya on the other side, looking unfairly adorable for this hour of the morning. She was wearing overalls with a simple white crop top underneath, and her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun. Suddenly he remembered that today was the day Maya was coming over to help him with his apartment.

"Morning Josh!" she chirped.

"Good morning," he replied, rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up more.

"Can I…can I come in?" Maya asked, an amused smirk on her face.

"Uh, yeah," Josh said, stifling a yawn.

He opened the door wider and Maya stepped in. She set her large canvas bag down on the ground by the door and stepped out of the foyer and into the area that contained the living room, dining room, and the small kitchen.

His kitchen and dining room was mostly set up thanks to Topanga, but his living room was an entirely different story. It was empty except for his couch and a few cardboard boxes and plastic bags filled with things he had bought on his shopping trip with Maya. The walls were all painted a pea green, which was the main thing he wanted to change about the place.

"Wow…okay, this place does need a lot of work," Maya said, surveying the rooms. "I think the first thing we should do is get some different paint on these walls. That should take all day today, then we can get working on the décor tomorrow."

"Okay, sounds like a plan," Josh said.

"I brought paint rollers and brushes, but do you have any paint?" Maya asked.

"Nope."

"So that'll be the first thing we do," she said, nodding to herself.

"Alright, let's get going," Josh said, stepping towards the door.

Maya smirked. "You want to put some clothes on first?"

Josh looked down, realizing that the entire time he had been standing there like an idiot the whole time with only his boxers and a stained old grey t-shirt on. He felt his face grow warm. "Right. Clothes. Good idea."

Maya giggled rather cutely, and Josh felt his face growing even warmer. "Maybe a coffee for you as well?"

They were back with paint and coffees an hour later. Josh helped Maya move the couch and the boxes and bags into the center of the room. They laid some tarps down on the floor and taped the edges of the doors and windows.

Finally, Maya popped open the lid on one of the paint cans that they had bought. She poured it into a tin and then handed Josh a roller, pulling out a regular paint brush for herself.

"I'll paint the edges if you can tackle the bigger parts," Maya said.

"Sounds good," Josh replied.

So they painted. After a few hours, they took a lunch break, but afterwards they went straight back to painting. They didn't exchange too many words, and when they did it was only to talk about what they were doing.

When it was nearing the end of the day, Maya's hair was falling loose and Josh's arm was sore, but they had two coats on all the walls, including the ones in his bedroom. Which, turns out, was not the best idea.

"I didn't even think about where you were going to sleep," Maya said, feeling rather stupid for not planning ahead.

"It's not a big deal," Josh assured her.

"Trust me, the paint fumes will get to you. It's not a pleasant smell, and now that we've painted everything in your apartment, there'll be nowhere to go to escape it."

"I'll just go stay at Cory's for the night," Josh said.

"Nonsense," Maya countered. "My place is like five minutes away. You can just stay on the couch again."

"Are you sure?" Josh asked. He didn't want her feeling uncomfortable.

"Yeah, it's my fault for not planning properly anyway.

"Okay."

"Let's get this stuff cleaned up, and maybe we could grab some takeout or something," Maya said.

Josh agreed, and they began to pour the excess paint back into the jar, gather the tarps, and clean the brushes in the sink.

"Hey, Josh, do you have a hammer?" Maya asked. "I can't get this can to close."

Josh looked up from the brushes. "Uh, yeah, there should be one in the top shelf of that middle cupboard." He gestured to the cupboard in question.

Maya walked over to the kitchen and opened the cupboard. There was no way she would be able reach the top shelf from the ground. Knowing that Josh was tied up with the brushed, she began to climb on top of the counter.

"Maya, be careful," Josh warned.

"I've done this a million times," Maya assured him. She adjusted her knees so that she could better reach the hammer, but placed one directly in a puddle of water, causing her to slip and begin to fall.

She closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact of the ground, but instead found herself in Josh's arms.

"Oh, why do I always have to make a fool out of myself in front of you?" She groaned.

He rose his eyebrows. "I told you to be careful."

Maya opened her eyes to glare at him, only to see how close their faces were. Both began to lean in, but Maya stopped herself. "I-uh, I still need the hammer," she said.

Josh set her down, hiding his disappointment and slight exasperation. He stood on his toes and reached the hammer, presenting it to her once he was resting on his heels again.

"Thanks," she said quietly, returning to the paint in the corner of the living room.

They finished packing up their things, and stashed them away in the corner of the living room.

"There's a bar just down the street from here," Josh said as they left the apartment. "It's almost in the middle of our apartments."

"A bar sounds great," Maya agreed.

The pair got into Maya's car and drove to the place, an awkward silence hanging over them. That same silence hung over them as they walked in, and as they ordered drinks. Josh wanted to slap himself. How could he be so stupid as to try and kiss her? After she said she wanted space? All he did was distance them even more.

As they sipped on their beverages, Josh surveyed the bar and the people around them. There were few, and most were grown men, like himself, except they were here alone. A couple sat close together in the corner, talking in low voices.

"So, um, tomorrow we'll get the furniture set up and decorate and stuff, yeah?" Maya asked, snapping Josh out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," Josh agreed. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan."

"Okay," Maya said. "We can leave around nine?"

Josh nodded.

"Should we stop to get coffee again?"

Josh laughed, and Maya joined him, breaking the tension.

Maya began to talk about work and school, and Josh looked around the bar again. His eyes landed on the couple once more. The blonde hair looked familiar, but currently he couldn't think of anyone he knew with blonde hair except Maya, and the woman's face was hidden by her partner. They separated, and Josh peered closer at them.

"Oh my god…" Maya breathed from beside him. Josh looked over at her, and she was staring at the couple as well. "That's Olivia!"

Josh glanced back over at them and immediately recognized her. "It is," he said. "I wonder who she's with."

As if on cue, the man with her turned his head, smiling.

"Jordan," Maya stated.

Sure enough, the man who was with the girl was indeed Maya's ex-fiancé. Josh could feel the anger and hurt radiating from Maya. However, what surprised him was how calm she was staying. She stayed in her seat, simply watching the couple interact. It took all of Josh's willpower to do the same thing. This was the first time he'd seen Jordan since Maya broke off their engagement, and all Josh wanted to do was hurt him physically as much as he had hurt her emotionally. It had broken his heart to see the girl he loved break down in front of him that night, and he needed Jordan to feel the same that she had.

As Josh sat deep in thought about just what he wanted to do to Jordan, Maya downed the rest of her drink, wiped the tears that had made their way down her cheeks, and marched over to the table.

The couple barely had time to react as Maya took the smoothie that rested on their table, untouched, and poured it over both of their heads.

"You deserve each other," she spat angrily before turning on her heel and sauntering out of the bar. Josh paid for the drinks quickly and followed her.

He found her sitting on a bench just outside of the bar, her chin resting on her palm. He sat next to her immediately, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"I should've guessed," she said bitterly. "He wouldn't break it off with her, too. Especially if she still wanted to be with him.

"God, I just…I thought that when she'd texted me out of the blue, that she'd been as much a victim as I had. I thought we could bond, you know? But then she took his side, and then came onto you even though I'd told her…"

"You'd told her what?" Josh asked.

"That's not important," Maya told him quickly, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.

"Sure it is," Josh argued. "It's part of the story, isn't it?"

"Can we just go back to my place?" Maya snapped, standing up suddenly.

"I-yeah, I guess," Josh agreed, taken aback by her sudden aggression.

They got back into the car, and had yet another awkwardly silent car ride back to her place. Once they were inside, and the doors to the elevator were closed, leaving them alone, Josh turned to Maya, gently touching her arm.

"Are you alright?" he asked, a concerned frown etched onto his features.

"I'm fine, Josh," she snapped.

Josh retracted his touch and turned back to face the doors again.

Maya sighed. "I'm sorry," she told him earnestly. "I didn't mean to snap at you." She reached over and slipped her hand into his, which sent a jolt of electricity up his arm. "But I'm okay, really. A little pissed off, sure, but I'm not that upset."

The elevator sounded, and the pair stepped off. Maya didn't let go of Josh's hand until they reached her apartment and she had to reach into her bag to grab her keys.

Maya opened the door and tossed her things onto the floor, leaving Josh in the living room to grab some bedding for the couch. Her apartment was slightly disorganized, as it had always been, and Josh smiled at the familiarity.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that I invited Lucas and Riley to have breakfast with us tomorrow," Maya informed him. "They're early risers, too, so we might have to be ready for them around seven-thirty."  
Josh nodded. "Okay, that's fine with me."

Together they set up the bed for him, and then Maya allowed Josh to use her bathroom to get ready to go to sleep.

Once he was done, he found her sitting on her bed, clad in running shorts and a tank top. She was brushing her long blonde hair slowly, lost in thought, and Josh couldn't help but feel drawn to her. He sat on the bed next to her, daring to be within a few inches.

"You're sure you're okay?" he asked her gently.

Maya turned to him with a slight smile. "I'm sure," she assured him. "Thanks for making sure."

"Yeah." Josh brushed it off, rubbing the back of his neck.

Maya leaned over and planted a soft, sweet kiss on his cheek. "Goodnight Josh."

Josh felt his cheeks heating up as he stood and made his way to the doorway. "Goodnight Maya."

* * *

"Good morning Peaches!" Riley sing-songed as she made her way into Maya's home, balancing a baby on one hip and a basket of muffins on the other. She immediately took notice of her dark-haired uncle standing in the kitchen instead of her best friend, and grinned wickedly. "Oh, and Uncle Josh as well! What a surprise!" She winked at Maya, who scowled and blushed from her spot at the table.

Lucas trailed after his wife, carrying a diaper bag and a car seat. "'Morning!" he said cheerily.

Josh turned to his niece and her husband, yawning. "How are you two this perky right now?" He wondered aloud.

"Aw, rough night?" Riley teased.

Maya glared at her friend. "Yes, actually," she snapped. "I ran into my ex and that bitch, Olivia. Together."

Riley gasped. "No! The one he cheated on you with?"

Maya nodded.

Riley frowned. "What's this girl's name? I'd like to give her a piece of my mind!"

"Olivia," Maya answered.

Riley gave a Maya a look that quite clearly said, ' _no, duh_.'

"Olivia Bradford, I think it was."

Riley and Lucas fell silent, sharing a look.

"What?" Josh asked, confused.

" _Bradford?"_ Riley hissed.

"Yeah, why?" Maya raised an eyebrow.

"As in, _Missy_ Bradford?" Riley asked in the same manner.

Realization dawned on Maya's face. "I knew that name sounded familiar!"

Josh looked around at the other three, still puzzled. "I'm missing something."

"Missy Bradford was this girl who used to bully Riley back when we were in middle school," Lucas explained.

"It's actually kinda funny, because Missy made Riley stick her finger in Lucas's nose," Maya laughed.

Riley glared at Maya. "We do not speak of that!" she said vehemently, a bright blush rising to her cheeks.

Lucas laughed good-naturedly, wrapping his arm around Riley and planting a kiss on her cheek. "You know, that's one of the first moments that made me fall in love with you."

Riley recoiled, a disgusted look on her face. "Really? When I had my finger up your nose?"

Lucas nodded, still laughing.

"You looked at me when I had my finger up your nose and thought, 'wow, she's attractive'?" Riley asked.

"No, I looked up at you and thought, 'wow, she's quirky and charming even when she's got her finger up my nose.'"

Riley rolled her eyes. "You're such an oddball."

Everyone laughed, and baby Jessica gurgled happily along with her little family.

"But you're okay, right hon?" Riley asked Maya, returning to the first issue.

Maya nodded. "I'm okay. Surprisingly not too unhappy about it."

"That's good," Riley said. "You're moving on."

Maya smiled slightly, glancing over at Josh for a split second. "Yeah," she said. "I guess I am."

The four dug into breakfast, and Jessica was passed to Josh, who was ecstatic about feeding her for the first time. Riley smiled as Maya watched the two with a dreamy smile on her face. She leaned into her husband, giving him a gentle kiss, glad that they hadn't had as many bumps along their road as the other couple had. Here they were, happily married, with a beautiful baby girl, and never once had Lucas left her, or she left him. They had a rough start back in eighth grade, but once they'd gotten over all that, it was a pretty smooth ride.

Riley looked back over at the other two, who had endured so many storms, so many bumps, along their own path that had almost knocked them off the wagon altogether. But here they were. Their little wagon was bumped and bruised, but they were still hanging on. They'd get there eventually.

 **And we're back! How'd you guys feel about the metaphor at the end of the story? I tried my best, but I've never been the greatest at metaphors, you know? They're kind of hard to write sometimes.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you thought of this chapter! Were you surprised by Jordan and Olivia? Are you liking the way things are moving along with Josh and Maya? Write me a review please! I love reading them and hearing you guys' responses! It always makes my day.**

 **We've only got a few more chapters left of this story! I actually have an idea for each one of those, so hopefully I can crank them out quickly for you guys so you don't have to wait for another three months for the next one. (Again, I'm sorry about that. Life gets busy, you know?) Let me know if you have anything you'd like me to write for you guys; I'm looking for an idea for a new story. It doesn't have to be Girl Meets World related either. I've seen pretty much everything there is to see on Disney Channel (I'm probably too old for that, but whatever).**

 **Anyway, have a wonderful week and I'll hopefully see you back here in a week or so!**

 **Lots of love,**

 **~SmartyPants210**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey y'all!**

 **Oh my word, you guys are probably really surprised by this update, aren't you? It didn't take me three months, would you look at that! Lol, okay enough jokes.**

 **You guys are probably going to have mixed feelings about this chapter, but it had to happen. (You'll see what I mean once you read it.) The next few chapters will be better, I promise.**

 **But also, OMG this story almost has 100 reviews guys! Allow me a minute to just squeal excitedly... Keep posting those reviews, guys! I love love love to hear your thoughts! I think I might actually cry a bit when I reach 100. I cried a bit when I reached 10 reviews. It's exciting, okay. I don't even think 100 people at school have talked to me, let alone 100 people on the internet who are as obsessed with GMW as I am.**

 **And now I'm just rambling about having no social life. Shall we get on with the chapter? I think we should.**

 **I DON'T OWN GMW.**

Chapter Nine.

"Bye, Jessica!" Maya cooed, waving at the child as she was carried out the door by her parents. Jessica looked on, unfazed.

"We should head off to my apartment, yeah?" Josh asked.

Maya nodded. "Yeah, just let me grab a few things from my room."

She was back in a few minutes, her canvas bag slung over her shoulder and carrying a gift bag in one hand.

"What's that?" Josh asked, raising his eyebrows.

Maya moved her hand so the bag was behind her legs, a sly smile on her face. "None of your concern."

Josh stuck out his bottom lip jokingly. "Fine. Don't tell me."

"I won't," Maya retorted, reaching for the door.

They set out together in Maya's car, reaching the apartment in five minutes. It no longer smelled of paint, but it was quite cold because they'd left the windows cracked. Maya rubbed her hands over her bare arms, trying to warm them.

"Here, I'll get you something to wear," Josh said, ducking into his bedroom. He came back out with a jean jacket, which Maya took gratefully, sliding her arms through the sleeves. Josh chuckled at how big it was on her small frame, and Maya wrinkled her nose at him.

"So I'm assuming you still have all the stuff that we picked out together way back when," Maya said. Josh nodded. "Okay good, so we can get started right away. Shall we start in the living room?"

"Whatever you say, Captain," Josh agreed.

* * *

"And we're done!" Maya announced as she hung the final picture on his bedroom wall.

It was one that had been taken at graduation of him and all the other members of the Matthews family. Maya smiled at the memory that the picture held. Cory, Eric, and Josh wouldn't stop messing around in the back row where they were standing, so it took forever for Shawn to get a good picture. It came to the point where Riley had to put her foot down and demand for them to shut up and take the picture. She had never looked more like Topanga, and Maya was so proud of her. She was proud of all of them that day.

Josh looked around his room. "It looks great, Maya," he said. "Thank you so much for helping me."

Maya smiled. "It was my pleasure. I love interior decorating, and I don't get to do it that often. Besides, I had a lot of fun these past two days. We haven't hung out this much in forever."

Josh nodded, agreeing. "Hey, you want to have a glass of wine before you go home?"

Maya raised her eyebrows. "Depends, is it the fancy wine that Topanga got you as a housewarming gift?"

"That's the one," Josh said.

"Then is it even a question?" Maya asked, leading the way into his kitchen. As he found the wine in his pantry, she got some wine glasses down from the cupboard, and soon enough they were sitting in Josh's newly-decorated living room, laughing and chatting about things that would seem completely irrelevant to any onlooker.

"Alright, well, that's the last of it," Maya said, gesturing to her empty glass.

"Aw, do you have to go?" Josh asked teasingly.

"Josh, it's eleven o'clock," Maya said. "I'm tired."

Josh sighed overdramatically. "I guess so."

"Wait, I almost forgot!" Maya exclaimed, hopping up from the couch and walking over to the door where she had put her things.

When she came back, she had the bag that she had been carrying earlier. "This," she said, sitting down on the couch next to him, "is my housewarming gift to you."

Josh took the bag from her. "You didn't have to."

Maya smiled. "Just open it before I change my mind," she told him.

He reached inside and pulled a large envelope out. Slowly and carefully, he lifted the flap and took out the contents, taking in a sharp breath at what he was now holding in his hands. It was the same picture that he had found all those months ago in that box in the closet. The one that Maya had drawn for him after her graduation. The one that had been sent back to her because he had left. She had redone it, this time with watercolor. Somehow, it looked even more realistic and lively than the original pencil drawing.

"Turn it over," Maya prompted softly as he took in the beauty of her work. Josh complied, and saw a handwritten note on the back.

 _Josh,_

 _We've been through so much lately. Hell, we've been through so much throughout the years. But somehow, we're still here and we're still together. I don't know how that happened, but I'm thanking my lucky stars that it did. I wanted to redo this picture that I drew those years ago because that's exactly what we've done with our lives together. We've started over. We've moved on from whatever happened back then because honestly, it doesn't seem to matter anymore. What matters now is whatever happens in the future. Here's to Someday._

 _Maya_

Josh looked up at her with tears in his eyes. "Thank you," he said, pulling her into a hug. Maya wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his neck. They sat there in each other's arms for a while, both enjoying the close proximity more than either would care to share.

When they did finally pull away, it was only to come face to face with each other. Maya drew in a breath, watching Josh's eyes flick down to her lips and back up to her eyes. She knew what was coming - after all, he'd done it many times before - but she didn't stop him as he closed the remaining space between them. As he kissed her, she felt herself responding to his actions. The kiss grew more heated, and suddenly Maya was on Josh's lap, running her hands through his hair and tugging him closer to her.

But then she woke up from her dazed state, quickly detaching her lips from his and scrambling off his body.

"I shoul-I shouldn't have done that," she said, more to herself than to Josh. She covered her mouth with her hand. "I don't know why I did that."

Josh leaned his head back against the couch and groaned loudly.

Maya whipped around to face him. "What?" she snapped.

"You!" Josh cried, running his hands over his face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Maya asked.

"I don't think you see how much this is hurting me, Maya," Josh said. "One minute, you're here, and we're having a great time, and I think you finally might be considering being with me, and the next minute, you're gone and you're cold, and I feel like we're drifting away again. This game you're playing, whatever it is, is not what I mean when I say 'long game'. The Long Game doesn't play with my emotions the way you are. The Long Game is supposed to keep us close, not push us away from each other."

"I'm not pushing you away, Josh!" Maya said. "I'm just trying to sort out what's going on in my life right now!"

"I can help you with that," Josh reminded her, reaching over and taking her hand. "Why won't you let anyone help you?"

"I don't need help; I just need time!" Maya said, her voice rising a bit. "And if you can't give it to me, then I don't know what I'm even doing here!"

"I'm tired of waiting, Maya!" Josh said, his voice also rising. "That's all I've been doing lately, is waiting. Waiting because you have a fiancé, waiting because you were confused, waiting because you have to get over this fiancé."  
" _You've_ been waiting?!" Maya shouted. "I've waited most of my life for you! Waiting because I was too young, waiting because you had a girlfriend, waiting because you left me! I'm not the one who is changing the long game, you are! You were the one who made the Long Game into the waiting game! Not me!"

"Well, maybe if the Long Game is hurting us both so much, then we shouldn't play it anymore!" Josh suggested.

Maya took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to shut out what had just happened. When she realized that it wasn't working, she opened her eyes again. "Maybe we shouldn't."

He didn't even pick his head up to watch as she grabbed her keys from the counter and her coat from the chair. He looked up when it was too late. When she was gone, all over again, for what seemed like the millionth time in his life.

 **Drama drama drama!**

 **Where do you think Maya's going to go? How do you think this is going to play out? Is Josh just overreacting? There are so many questions! Let me know what you think is going to happen!**

 **Like I said earlier, the next few chapters will be better. Sadly, the next few chapters are going to be the last few chapters. I already have the next one pretty much written, so hopefully that'll be up to you guys very soon. I have a busy week ahead of me, so hopefully I can squeeze some time in to update.**

 **Have a fantastic week guys! And, if you celebrate Valentine's Day, have a fantastic one of those too! (I'm forever alone.)**

 **Until next time,**

 **~SmartyPants210**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! I'm back! And for the second time this week!**

 **It's been insanely busy this week. I was going to try to give you this chapter on Valentine's Day, but that didn't work. I think Tuesday was my busiest day. But here it is now, so happy belated V-day!**

 **This chapter picks up right where the last chapter ended.**

 **I DON'T OWN GMW.**

Chapter Ten.

Maya pounded on her best friend's door, not caring that she and her husband were asleep by this time of the night. She angrily wiped the tears from her eyes just as the door opened, revealing a sleepy-looking Lucas, squinting into the light of the hallway.

"Maya?" he wondered aloud.

Maya sniffed. "Is Riley awake?" she asked, hating how weak her voice sounded.

"Yeah," Lucas replied. "Yeah, she was just getting ready for bed."

He opened the door wider to allow Maya to come inside. "Riley, love, Maya's here!" he called quietly. "Jessica's been fussy, so that's probably where she is right now."

Sure enough, Riley emerged from the baby's room moments later, cradling the child in her arms.

"Maya?" Riley asked as soon as she caught a glimpse of Maya's puffy red eyes. "What's the matter?"

"C'mere, sweet," Maya said softly, reaching for the baby and pulling her into her arms. As she gently rocked the sleepy child, she and Riley took a seat on the couch.

"Tea?" Lucas asked, yawning.

"You should probably get back to bed, babe," Riley said, reaching over and squeezing her husband's hand. "You were up all night last night."

"Jessica?" Lucas asked, wanting to know if he should take the baby with him back to bed.

"We can handle her," Maya told him.

"Goodnight, Lucas," Riley said lovingly, kissing him briefly.

"Goodnight, love," Lucas replied. "Goodnight Maya."

"'Night," Maya said.

Once he had closed the door to their room, Riley turned to Maya. "So why are you at my apartment at midnight?"  
"Josh and I had a fight," Maya explained.

"What's new?" Riley asked, resting her head on the back of the couch and sighing exasperatedly. "You two are constantly arguing over one thing or another. It gets a little-"

"He told me that he didn't want to play the long game anymore," Maya interrupted.

Riley sat up suddenly. "Now why the hell would he do _that_?" she asked angrily.

"He said that he didn't want to wait any longer," Maya said. "That I was taking too long."

"That's ridiculous," Riley exclaimed.

"Is it?" Maya asked. "If it was so ridiculous, then why does it bother him so much?"

Riley rolled her eyes. "I don't know," she said honestly. "What do you think?"

"I don't know," Maya whined. "On the one hand, I think it's absolutely ridiculous, and that he should get over himself and give me the time that I need. But on the other hand, he's right. He's given me time; he's given me space. What if I'm just coming up with excuses now?"

"Maya, do you love Josh?" Riley asked.

"Yes, of course I do," Maya said. "I don't think I've stopped loving him since I was fifteen."  
"Do you trust him?"

Maya thought about it. Did she trust him? Did she know that he wouldn't turn out like Jordan had? _Of course he wouldn't do what Jordan did_ , she scolded herself. _He's nothing like Jordan._ With that realization, she knew that she did trust Josh. That's the one thing she was worried about, was that he'd turn out to be just another guy who would tell her he loved her and then leave her for someone else. But he wasn't just any other guy. He was Josh, and she could trust him. "Yes, I do trust him."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Riley asked.

What _was_ she waiting for? To get over Jordan? After what happened in the bar the other night, she was sure she was over him. Especially since it didn't bother her one bit that Jordan and Olivia had gotten together. They deserved each other.

Maya stood up, placing the now sleeping baby in Riley's arms. "You'll be alright with her?" she asked.

Riley grinned, knowing where Maya was going with this. "I've done it a million times."

"I have to go," Maya announced, rushing out the door. "Thank you Riles!" She didn't even bother grabbing her keys or her coat, and was gone before Riley could say another word.

* * *

Josh sat in the window in his living room, watching the rain pour down on the city. He couldn't believe that he'd messed up with Maya _again_. It seemed like he was constantly making a mess of things with her. All he wanted was to be with her, but when he was around her he couldn't seem to think straight, which in turn made him mess up. He was just so god damn stupid sometimes.

As he was mentally cursing himself, a knock from the door sounded through the apartment, making him jump. Without hesitating, he leaped up from his spot and hurried to open the door.

Standing on the other side was Maya, drenched from head to toe and shivering like a Chihuahua. Her hair was plastered to her face and her makeup was running, but Josh couldn't be happier to see her.

"I'm so sorry, Josh," she said before he could even open his mouth. "You were right. You've given me my time and space. I'm just making you wait and coming up with excuses and I don't even know why because hell, Josh, I love you. I've loved you since I was fifteen years old, and I haven't stopped. And this might be too late, and maybe you've already fallen out of love with me, but I needed you to know." She paused for a few moments, and Josh let the words sink in. When he didn't say anything, her face fell a bit. "So, um, yeah. There you have it." She swallowed, and Josh still couldn't seem to form words, so she turned to leave. "I-I guess I'll just be on my way-"

And then, within the blink of an eye, Josh grabbed her wrist, turned her to face him, and kissed her. And for the first time since graduation, neither one pulled away. Both had been waiting for too long for this moment.

"I love you too," Josh whispered against her lips. "So much."

Maya wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again, not quite believing that now she could do exactly that whenever she wanted to. This was what she'd wanted to do, what she'd been dreaming of doing since high school.

When they broke away, Maya let out a long yawn. Josh smiled at her.

"Tired?" he asked, gently tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

Maya nodded. "It's been a long day."

"You probably shouldn't be driving home this late – or rather, this early," Josh told her. "Do you want to stay here?"

"Joshua Matthews, are you trying to get me into bed with you?" Maya asked innocently, pulling him closer until their faces were inches away from each other.

Josh's face reddened slightly, and Maya kissed him again.

"I'm kidding," she assured him. "I'd love to stay."

* * *

The next morning, Maya woke up to the sun shining in her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut, groaning at the sun to go away, before reluctantly sitting up and dangling her legs over the edge of the bed.

"Good morning, beauty," said a deep, raspy voice from beside her.

Maya jumped, not remembering what had happened the night before for a second. However, as a pair of familiar warm arms wrapped around her waist, everything came back to her. _Josh_.

She leaned her head back on his shoulder, closing her eyes once more and sighing happily. "I love you," she told him, as if to make sure that everything that had happened was, in fact, real.

Josh placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "I love you too."

So it was real. They had finally made it. It had taken almost ten years, but they had finally gotten together. And now that they had, Maya didn't ever want to let go.

 **AWWWWW**

 **Hey, they finally got together! Look at that. I'm sure you all were mad/upset at how that last chapter ended, but it had to happen.**

 **I only have one more chapter after this, and then the epilogue! It's so sad! Leave me some ideas of what you guys want to see in the epilogue, because I'm so indecisive I don't have a clue where to start.**

 **Thank you so much for all your reviews, guys! This story has over 100 and I'm so happy! Ahh! I love you all for your dedication to reading and reviewing this story.**

 **~SmartyPants210**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello lovely readers!**

 **So here I am with another (admittedly late) update! This is the last official chapter of the story, but don't you worry! There will be an epilogue, and I have a long weekend coming up, so I will be using that to get the epilogue out to you guys!**

 **A quick disclaimer before you read: This chapter has a Christian theme in it - baptism. And this is in NO WAY me forcing religion on you! In fact, the prospect itself is hardly addressed. So don't get mad at me for having a Christian theme in it, I promise you it is solely for the sake of cute Joshaya moments with the whole Matthews-Hunter-Friar family. And you get to see more of Jessica, who I love to write about. If you want to, you can just completely ignore the whole baptism aspect of it.**

 **Also, this chapter is giant. 4,170 words before the author's notes. I know I've been a bit skimpy on the last few chapters, so here I am making it up to you.**

 **I DON'T OWN GIRL MEETS WORLD! (In case you didn't get that from the past ten chapters of this story)**

 **Alright, now here's the chapter! Happy reading!**

Chapter Eleven.

"Maya, you almost ready to go?" Josh called from the living room.

Maya looked herself over once more in the mirror before heading out to join him. The two were going on a double date with Riley and Lucas while Auggie and Ava watched Jessica.

"You look gorgeous," Josh complimented her, looping an arm around her waist and kissing her temple. Maya smiled.

She wasn't wearing anything extravagant, only a simple blush-colored romper with a jean jacket slung over her shoulder in case she got cold. It was a beautiful day in April, and the high temperature for the day was seventy-five degrees. She had let her hair air-dry, showing off her beautiful natural curls, which Josh couldn't get enough of. She kept her makeup simple, knowing that they weren't going anywhere fancy.

Still, despite the simplicity and casualness of the look, Maya knew that Josh had meant his compliment in every way. Josh made her feel so beautiful every second of the day, from the times she was most glammed-up to the times where she was sitting in bed, hair piled on her head, wearing not even a trace of makeup.

"You look pretty nice yourself, Josh," Maya said, letting her eyes trail up and down his body appreciatively. Of course, he looked good in anything he put on, so he barely even had to try with a simple pale blue button-up and jeans.

"Shall we get going?" Josh asked, intertwining his fingers with Maya's.

Maya nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

"Those two are going to get married one day," Riley predicted.

"They already are married, Riles," Maya reminded her. "Remember? Mr. and Mrs. Auggie-Doggie Matthews?"

The four laughed. They were currently discussing Auggie and Ava's relationship, seeing as the pair was babysitting Jessica. They seemed to still be going strong after almost nine years, although their relationship had definitely changed since they were seven and eight. Now that they were nearing the end of their Sophomore year, both had matured individually and in their relationship. They ceased to call each other husband and wife seriously, only using the names jokingly anymore.

"I mean _legally_ ," Riley clarified. Everyone laughed again.

Lucas's phone vibrated on the table, and he picked it up to look at the text. "Good news," he announced to the table. "Zay is flying in as soon as he can."

"Zay's coming?" Maya asked excitedly. She paused. "Wait, why is Zay coming?"

"We actually wanted to ask you two about that," Riley said. "See, Jessica is getting baptized a week from tomorrow, and my parents are throwing a party for the whole thing - which is why Zay is coming so soon. Anyway, at Jessica's baptism, the parents and the godparents will stand with her while she is baptized. So, Maya, you're her godmother already obviously, but Lucas and I were wondering if Josh would stand with you, Maya, as her godfather?"

Josh's face lit up at the question. "You want me to be Jessica's godfather?" he asked.

"Yes, if you'd like," Riley confirmed. Lucas nodded along with her.

"Of course I will," Josh told the couple, beaming. He stood and hugged his niece. "Thank you guys."

As he turned to Lucas and shook his hand, Maya leaned over to Riley.

"I thought you said that Jessica's godfather would be whoever marries me?" Maya asked her quietly.

Riley nodded, a smile gracing her pretty features. "Maya, think about it. Do you see yourself marrying anyone but Josh?"

Maya looked over at the man in question. He was beaming at the invitation to be Jessica's godfather. His smile practically lit up the whole room, and Maya felt herself smiling also. There was no doubt in her mind that she loved this man, and that he loved her as well. It had taken them so long to get together, and now that they finally were, Maya couldn't be any happier. She was insurmountably happier with him than with any other guy she'd ever dated, and she never wanted that feeling to go away. She never wanted Josh to be out of her life ever again.

So she shook her head at Riley's question. "No, I can't."

Riley smiled at her best friend. "Exactly," she said.

* * *

The day of Jessica's baptism had arrived, and Maya woke up at four o'clock in the morning to find that the faucet on her sink was broken and spraying water everywhere. Her bathroom floor was covered in ice-cold puddles of water, and all her towels and her robe were soaked.

She turned the water off and then walked out into her living room, sitting down on the couch with a heavy sigh. Her apartment was on the older side, and it seemed that every appliance was breaking, one by one. Her shower was leaking, the oven never heated to the right temperature, her dishwasher only made the dishes dirtier, and the freezer froze everything in the refrigerator. She could replace those things, but it would probably cost less just to find a new apartment to rent.

Maya went back to her bed and managed to sleep for another hour before she had to get ready for the morning. She chose a blue floral-print dress to wear before hopping into her (leaking) shower. She was ready in an hour, just as there was a knock on the door.

She went to open it, purse and heels in hand. "Hey Josh," she greeted, opening the door wider to let him come in.

He gave her a quick hug and a kiss. "Can I just use your bathroom before we get going?"

Maya sighed. "My sink broke this morning, so the floor is all wet."

Josh gave her a sympathetic look, knowing how bad her apartment had been getting recently.

"Do you want breakfast?" Maya asked, walking over to the kitchen. "Luckily my toaster still works, so I made toaster waffles."

Josh followed, smiling. "Tempting, but I already ate."

Maya sat down at the table, slipping her feet into her shoes. "Boo," she said. "Eggos beat anything you could've eaten."

Josh chuckled. "Even one of Topanga's dark chocolate raspberry muffins?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Those are just cupcakes without frosting," Maya pointed out. "They're unhealthy."

"Says you," Josh said. "You're the one who uses an entire bottle of maple syrup for every one waffle."

Maya scoffed. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

Josh laughed. "I love you," he told her, bending down and kissing her.

"Love you too," she replied.

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" he asked.

Maya shook her head. "Not lately."

Josh frowned, rather taken aback by this statement. "Not even Jordan?"

Maya shook her head, shrugging. "It's not a big deal. It's not like we're still together."

"Of course it is, Maya," Josh said. "You deserve to be told how amazing you are every day. I can't be the only one who sees that."

Maya looked up at him, tears shining in her eyes. "Well, I didn't really have you here the past few years, did I?"

Josh felt a pain shoot through his heart. It hurt to hear that again, especially now after everything they'd been through. Now after they had gotten together. But he couldn't blame her. She probably felt even worse about it that he did. He pulled her into his arms, holding her against his chest.

"I've never regretted anything more in my life than I did leaving you," he told her. "So trust me when I say _I'm never leaving you again_."

Maya nodded, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I trust you, Josh."

* * *

They arrived at the church about thirty minutes before the service started, as instructed by Riley and Lucas. Nobody but the Matthew-Hunter-Friar crew was there, and they themselves took up more than half of the tiny building.

They all posed as Shawn took pictures, both family portraits and artistic shots of the baby. Then Riley and Lucas were whisked away by the priest to go over the ceremony, leaving Maya holding her goddaughter.

Maya held the baby in her arms, smiling at her tiny waving fists. Jessica was about three months old, and she was alert and smiling at everyone who held her.

A pair of arms slipped around her waist, and Josh's deep voice whispered softly in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. "You know, I can't really decide who's cuter – you or my goddaughter."

Maya twisted around to face him. "I sure hope it's not the same definition of cute."

"You're right," Josh said. "You're definitely more of a sexy." He gave her hips a squeeze, and she squirmed away.

"Joshua Matthews, we are in a church!" Maya scolded softly.

"So?" Josh asked. "I'm sure God understands how much I want to-"

"I dare you to finish that sentence in front of my great-granddaughter," Amy scolded her son, coming up and reaching out of her arms for the baby.

"Sorry ma," Josh said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Just save it for when you two are alone." Amy waved him off, taking Jessica from Maya and walking back to her husband.

Maya turned to Josh, blushing profusely. She whacked his shoulder with her bulletin, to which he chuckled. "Don't laugh!" she admonished. "That was so embarrassing!"

"It's not like you did anything," Josh pointed out.

Maya frowned. "Still," she said.

"I'm sorry, love," Josh told her sincerely. "I only mean to flatter you."

"Well, keep the compliments PG, please."

Josh nodded. "Will do."

The doors to the church opened, and a familiar young man walked in, a large smile on his face. "It is good to be back," he announced.

"Zay, you made it!" Riley said warmly, walking over to him and pulling him into a hug.

"Of course I did," Zay told her. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

They pulled away, and Lucas stepped in.

"Hey man," he greeted, pulling him into a hug as well.

"You have a daughter," Zay said, an impressed look on his face. "You actually have a daughter. I can't even believe it."

Lucas laughed. "I couldn't either."

Maya pulled Josh by the hand over to where her old friend stood. "Isaiah Babineaux," she said.

Zay turned, a smile spreading across his face. "Maya Hart."

They wrapped their arms around each other briefly.

"Man, you look fantastic," Zay said, giving her a brief once over.

"And you look devilishly handsome, as always," Maya complimented back.

"How's the fiancé?" Zay asked.

"We broke up," Maya said. "Actually, uh, Josh and I are together now." She reached over and pulled Josh closer, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"About time," Zay declared. "Last I was here, you two were still dancing around each other." He turned to Josh, sticking out his hand. "Hey, man, how're you?"  
Josh shook it with a friendly smile.

Zay went around, greeting everyone else, and soon enough other members of the church piled in, and the service started. A little while after the introduction and announcements, the pastor called up Riley, Lucas, Jessica, Maya, and Josh. They stood in front of the white marble fountain as the pastor said a few words about baptism, and then the ceremony commenced.

Jessica only giggled as the pastor poured the water over her forehead, and as they watched, Maya felt Josh's arms slip around her waist.

"I love you," he told her, and she smiled back at him.

* * *

"Alright, Cory and Shawn just put the steaks on the grill," Topanga announced as she walked into the living room. "Meanwhile, we've got a bunch of snacks and drinks over here for everyone, so help yourselves."

Maya snuggled further into Josh's side as they listened to Zay's stories about Texas. Josh smiled slightly, pressing his lips against her temple.

"Aw, you two are just too cute," Zay commented. "I can't even remember what I was talking about." He stood up. "I'm getting another beer. You two need anything?"

The couple shook their heads, and Zay left. Riley approached them, Jessica not in her hands for once, and took Maya's hand, pulling her off the couch.

"My turn," she sang to Josh. "You can't keep her forever."

Josh chuckled, getting up off the couch as well. "I think I'm going to go and join Cory and Shawn on the roof."

"Lucas is up there too," Riley informed him.

Maya waved before Riley dragged her away, heading for Riley's old room.

"I want to talk to you about relationships," Riley announced.

"Of course you do," Maya said, laughing as they sat down at the bay window.

"How's Josh?" Riley asked.

Maya raised an eyebrow. "What do you want to know?" she asked suggestively.

"Eww, Mayaaa," Riley complained, shoving a pillow into the blonde's face. "Remember when you made me promise not to tell you anything _like that_ about Lucas? Well, the same applies to you and my uncle."

Maya laughed. "Okay, but seriously, what do you want to know?"

"I don't know, like are you happy?"

"Of course I'm happy," Maya said. "I've wanted this for as long as I can remember."

"Good," Riley said. "Because you know I can always turn good ol' Cory Matthews on him if he isn't making you happy."

Maya chuckled. "I'm sure you can, but there's no need to worry. I'm happier than I've been in a really long time."

Riley smiled. "That's great. Because you two are absolutely adorable together and I want to be the godmother of your babies."

"That's a given, honey," Maya said.

"BUT NOT YET!" Riley yelled hurriedly. "No babies yet! You're using protection, aren't you?"

"Riley Friar!" Maya exclaimed, taking the pillow that had been previously shoved in her own face into her best friend's.

"You guys don't need a child, trust me!" Riley said, and even though her voice was muffled by the pillow, Maya could tell she wasn't kidding anymore.

Maya took the pillow away from Riley's face, all joking put aside.

"Riley, is everything okay with you and Lucas?" Maya asked, genuinely concerned.

Riley's smile dropped slightly, but she stayed silent.

"Riley," Maya said insistently.

"Okay fine!" Riley burst. "We're just fighting a lot more than usual and I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that we're exhausted because Jessica never sleeps at night. But it's fine, we'll work it out later."

"Aw, pumpkin, you don't have to stay strong for me," Maya said. "It's okay to be upset about it."

Riley's lower lip trembled, tears forming in her eyes. "He barely even looks at me at home anymore. It's like ever since Jessica was born, all the romance was gone. We fight more than we kiss, and whenever it does get passionate or heated between us, the baby interrupts us. A-and I feel like I can't even talk to Lucas about it. I-I just miss my husband, Peaches."

Maya wrapped her arms around her best friend, allowing her to cry into her shoulder. A knocking on the window startled the two apart, and they looked over to the open window to see Lucas kneeling by the window, the broken-hearted look on his face revealing that he heard everything Riley had just said.

"How much did you hear?" Riley asked softly, wiping her tears off her face and hiccupping softly.

Lucas didn't answer, but instead climbed through the window, sitting next to his wife. "I'll take it from here, Maya," he told the blonde, who nodded and stood up. "Josh is still on the roof; you might want to save him from Cory and your father."

Maya nodded, walking toward the door. She looked back, seeing the couple in a tight embrace, Lucas talking in low, comforting tones to Riley, and left, knowing that they'd be okay.

She took the trip up to the roof, deciding that the shorter amount of time Josh spent alone with Shawn and Cory, the less trouble he'd get into.

She reached the top of the staircase, hand on the doorknob, when the door swung open, revealing Josh standing on the others side.

"Hey, you," he said, stepping inside the building and closing the door behind him. "I was just coming downstairs to find you."  
Maya stepped closer to him. "Well, you found me," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He bent his neck and captured her lips with his. She tangled her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck, gently tugging him closer to her. The kiss turned more urgent and heated, until Maya felt her back collide with the wall. She wrapped a leg around Josh's waist, and he pulled her hips against his.

"Ahem," came a voice from beside them, and the two pulled away abruptly. Cory stood in the doorway, a plate of steaming steaks in his hand, a slight grin on his face. Maya put her leg down, blushing.

"You're lucky Shawn didn't see that." Cory said with a slight raise of his eyebrows.

"See what?" Shawn asked, stepping through the open door.

Maya immediately pushed herself away from Josh. "Nothing," she said quickly. "Josh and I were just…exchanging words."

Josh bit his lip to keep from smiling, while Cory let out a snort of laughter.

Shawn raised his eyebrows. "Okay…"

"Are those the steaks?" Maya asked. "Here, let me take those!" She snatched the steaks from Cory's hands before taking off down the stairs.

"She is one odd little lady," Cory said.

 _Says you_ , Maya countered in her head.

"But she's my odd little lady," Josh said, smiling.

* * *

"Topanga, that was delicious, as always," Katy complimented, leaning back and stretching.

"Thank you, Katy," Topanga said. "But our husbands did most of the work this time."

"For once," Katy muttered, and the two ladies laughed as their husbands sputtered indignantly.

"We should really get going," Riley announced, standing up from her usual spot at the Matthews' dinner table. Lucas stood as well, wrapping an arm around his wife's waist. "Jessica's going to get fussy soon, it's almost time for her nap."

"Thank you all so much for hosting this party for her," Lucas told everyone sincerely.

"Anything for my grandbaby," Topanga said, cooing to Jessica.

"We should get going as well," Katy said. "Shawn's leaving for Arizona tomorrow morning."

Maya waited as everyone said their goodbyes before pulling Lucas to the side.

"Is everything okay between you two now?" she asked, looking over at Riley, who was wrestling Jessica into her car seat.

Lucas nodded. "And if it's not, it will be."

"Good," Maya said. "And it won't happen again?"

Lucas shook his head. "Not if I can help it."

"And Lucas?" Maya asked, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Lucas looked over to her. "Yeah?"

"Are _you_ okay?" she asked.

Lucas nodded. "If she's happy, so am I."

"Alright," Maya said, "good. Because I don't want either of you getting hurt."

Then Maya went over to Riley, pulling her into a hug.

"You're alright now Riles?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," Riley said. "We talked it through, and we're fine now."

"Good," Maya said. "Now, anytime you two need some time to yourselves, you give Jessica to me. I'm a perfectly capable babysitter, I promise."

Riley nodded. "Thank you, Maya," she said, pulling her into another hug. "I love you Peaches."  
"I love you too, Riles," Maya said. She hugged Lucas goodbye, then turned to her parents.

"I love you Mom," she said, hugging the petite woman. "Text me. We should have lunch soon."

"I will, sweetie," Katy said. "I love you too."

"I love you Dad," she told Shawn, hugging him as well. "Call me when you get to Arizona, and send me some cool pictures."

"Of course," Shawn said.

With that, the five of them left, leaving only Maya, Josh, Topanga, and Cory.

"Do I have to leave?" Maya asked Topanga.

Topanga nodded. "Sorry, sweetheart, we've got company coming over tomorrow."

"Okay," Maya said reluctantly. She hugged Topanga and Cory goodbye, and then she and Josh were on their way.

As they neared her apartment complex, Josh didn't slow as he normally did. Instead, he drove right past her building.

"Josh, what are you doing?" Maya asked.

"I didn't think you wanted to go back to your apartment," Josh said. "So I figured you could spend the night at mine."

Maya visibly relaxed. "That would be amazing, actually."

Josh reached over and took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze.

They pulled up to Josh's apartment building in less than five minutes, and soon they were opening the door and turning on the lights.

Maya sat down on the edge couch with a sigh. "I hate my apartment," she said, putting her head in her hands. Josh slid behind her so she was sitting in between his legs. He put his hands on her shoulders, massaging her neck and shoulders.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask this for a week or so," Josh began. "And you don't have to say yes if you don't want to, and I won't be offended if you're completely opposed to the idea, and-"

"Josh, just ask me," Maya said, humming in approval as he put pressure on a particularly tight spot on her shoulder.

"Do you want to maybe move in with me?" Josh asked. "I know it's kind of abrupt, so you can take however much time you'd like to decide, but I just thought I'd ask because-"

"I'd love to move in with you Josh," she told him simply. "We practically live together anyway, and since my apartment is trash…"

"Really?" he asked.

"Of course," Maya said. "You're my boyfriend, why wouldn't I want to live you?"

"There's a lot of reasons," Josh said. "Maybe you thought we were rushing into things, maybe you wanted to stay in your apartment, or maybe-"

"Josh, stop talking," Maya commanded. She turned around and pressed her lips against his.

* * *

"Remind me again why I'm doing this," Shawn said as he carried a particularly heavy box into the living room of Josh's apartment.

"Because you've known Josh his whole life and trust him to take care of your baby girl?" Maya guessed.

Shawn shook his head. "That's not it."

"Because you trust me to make good decisions?"

"Nope," Shawn said.

"Because you love me?"

"That's it," Shawn agreed.

"Well I love you too, dad," Maya said, planting a kiss on his cheek.

The door swung open, and Lucas and Josh walked in, carrying Maya's old dresser, one that belonged to Grandma Clutterbucket. Maya surveyed Josh's body, thoroughly appreciating how his muscles bulged and tensed as he moved across the room.

"Enjoying the show?" Josh asked, raising his eyebrows at Maya and grinning.

Maya smiled back. "Of course."

"Oh, keep your flirting to yourselves for two seconds," Riley complained as she walked into the apartment carrying a box of clothes. "The rest of us can hardly take it anymore."

"Sorry, Riles," Maya said.

"There's one more box in the car," Riley told them.

"I'll get it," Maya announced. "Josh, you want to come with?"

Josh walked over, slinging an arm around her shoulder. "Of course."

"We'll be back!" Maya said.

"Don't take too long!" Shawn told them, looking pointedly at Josh.

"No promises!" Maya called as they walked out to the elevator. "I don't even remember what the last box is."

"Well you did pack a ton of stuff," Josh said.

Maya let out an indignant noise, pushing Josh's shoulder. "You know I left more than half of my things behind."

"And I appreciate the sacrifice," Josh told her, grinning.

Maya rolled her eyes.

They reached Maya's car and popped the trunk open. There was one medium-sized black memory box left in the very middle of the compartment. There was silver marker on the side of the box and immediately both knew exactly what it was: the box of Josh.

Maya felt Josh stiffen beside her, knowing this was a sore spot for them. She immediately regretted packing it. But she didn't want to leave any of these things behind. They were important to her, which was why she never let them go in the first place. She reached out and ran her fingers over the lid.

"You know, I think I looked through this box at least once a month every month after you left," she said. "Even though the point of it was to forget about you."

Josh didn't say anything.

Maya lifted the lid, lifting the old jean jacket out of the box. She shrugged it over her shoulders, finding that it still fit after all those years. "I wore this when you promised that we'd have a Someday," she told Josh.

Josh nodded, eyes scanning the jacket, following the embroidered rose pattern. He was obviously feeling nostalgic. "You did."

"And look at us now, Josh," Maya pointed out, reaching over and slipping her hand into his. "We finally got our Someday."

 **THE END**

 **But don't worry, there's still an epilogue coming soon!**

 **I really hope you guys enjoyed that last official chapter of When Someday Never Came! I tried to fit in as many possible Joshaya moments in there. I would appreciate it so so much if you guys would tell me what you thought of this chapter. I can't stress enough how much I love love love reading your reviews!**

 **I'll see you guys very soon for the epilogue!**

 **~SmartyPants210**


	12. Epilogue

**I don't own Girl Meets World.**

Epilogue.

"What do you think this 'emergency' family meeting is about?" Lucas asked, balancing his daughter on his hip as they waited for the elevator to arrive.

"I don't know, but it had better be good," Maya said. "Cory interrupted my nap with his phone call. I haven't slept in days."

Josh rubbed Maya's back affectionately, knowing just how much sleep she'd been losing because of her new job.

Cory had called the whole Matthews-Hunter-Hart clan, plus Farkle and Smakle, who had recently become a family of four with their newborn twins, telling them that they all had to get to his and Topanga's place immediately.

The elevator sounded, and they all stepped off.

Riley hoisted the car seat that held her six-month-old son further up on her forearm. Only a year after Jessica was born, Riley found out she was pregnant again. About five months later, Smakle found that she was pregnant as well. The two had fun being pregnant together, until the start of Smakle's second trimester, when Riley's baby Adam Joseph Friar was born. He, unlike his older sister, was born at full term without any health complications. Then, six months later, Smakle's twins, Atlas and Andromeda Minkus, were born.

As the four adults approached the door, it was thrown open and they were ushered in by a flustered-looking Cory.

"You guys are all extremely late!" Cory reprimanded, as they all took their seats.

"Relax, dad, we're only five minutes behind everyone else," Riley said, lifting Adam out of his seat and passing him to Topanga, who was already reaching her arms out for her grandson.

"Five minutes is a lot of time! Time that should've been taken talking, instead of messing around like you all have surely been doing!" Cory shouted.

"Cory, take a seat," Topanga commanded. "This isn't that dire of a situation."

"Everyone has to come on this trip! I had to get them here before they scheduled something on the one week that none of us are busy!" He immediately clapped his hands over his mouth, knowing that he had unintentionally revealed the surprise.

Suddenly the room filled with talk about a trip, everyone wondering where they were going and what they were doing.

"Alright, be quiet everyone!" Topanga shouted over the noise. Once everyone silenced, she began to speak again. "Yes, we're taking a trip. We're doing this three weeks from now. Nobody has anything scheduled that week, right?"

Everyone nodded. Somehow, they had all gotten the same week off and none of them were doing anything else.

"So, it's nothing too exciting, but we've managed to rent out that old ski lodge so that we'll get it all to ourselves."

Maya snuck a glance at Josh, who smiled back at her, thinking the same thing. This was _their place_.

"I thought you guys hated that place," Riley pointed out to her parents.

"We do," Topanga said quickly. "However, I know a certain couple whose wedding anniversary is coming up, and I know for a fact that this is where they got together - for good this time." She winked at Riley and Lucas, who beamed in response.

"Really?" Riley asked. "You did this so Lucas and I could celebrate our anniversary?"

Topanga nodded. "We did. And I think that lodge holds a meaning to all of us, so we booked it for the whole family."

"This is going to be so much fun!" Riley squealed.

Lucas smiled at her, squeezing her hand. "I agree."

* * *

"Why are we taking a bus, again?" Katy asked, glancing at the big blue bus that Cory had rented for them to take.

"We wanted to make this as true to the memories as we could," Topanga answered. "And we all took a bus here last time, so why not do it again?"

"Alright, but nobody blame me if I throw up," Katy said. "I get motion-sick on buses."

"Is this everyone's stuff?" Cory shouted from the back of the bus, where they were loading everyone's things.

"Wait, I've got one more thing!" Ava shouted, carrying yet another muted pink floral luggage bag over to where Cory was standing.

"What is that, your fifth suitcase?" Auggie teased from the curb.

Ava reddened slightly. "It's my third," she said matter-of-factly.

Auggie laughed, and slung an arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. "You and your over-packing are adorable."

Ava rolled her eyes, but slid her arm around his waist anyway.

"They're so cute together," Maya commented, smiling fondly as Ava reached up to ruffle Auggie's curls.

"Not as cute as us, though," Josh said.

"Of course not."

Cory closed the back of the bus, and everyone piled on, each couple taking seats next to each other. Jessica bounced on Maya's knee, staring in awe at her handsome godfather, who smiled lovingly back at her. Jessica had become quite infatuated with Josh lately, and every time he was around she'd perk up and pay all her attention to him, which he gladly reciprocated. One of her new words was "Joshie", and that was the only word she would say when he was near.

"Jessie, you are my sunshine," Josh told his goddaughter, lifting her off Maya's lap and into his arms. This was something he told her every time he saw her, and it only served to make her even more infatuated.

"Should I be concerned?" Maya teased, grinning at the adorable exchange between the two.

Josh laughed, leaning over to kiss his girlfriend. "Never," he said.

Maya rested her head in the crook of his neck. "Love you, Josh."

"I love you too, Maya."

With that, Maya fell asleep as the bus barreled down the freeway, right on its way to the infamous ski lodge.

* * *

"Here we are!" Cory announced, stepping off the bus and breathing in the fresh air. Everyone followed. "So, um, just go to Shawn for your room assignments, and yeah!"

"Wait, who put Shawn in charge of room assignments?" Maya asked. She knew that he would put her and Josh in separate rooms.

"I did, kiddo," Shawn said from behind her, stepping up beside her, pushing Josh away slightly. Even though the two had been dating for two years, Shawn was still being the overprotective dad and disapproving of the relationship. "You are rooming upstairs, in room seventeen, with Ava. While you, Josh, will be rooming downstairs, in room two, with Auggie."

"Dad!" Maya complained.

"You're not married," Shawn said. "Therefore, you do not get to stay in the same room together."

"We've been living together for over two years, Shawn," Josh pointed out.

"And did I approve of that?" Shawn asked. "Nope! Those are your room assignments, and I think it'd be best if you stuck to them." He raised an eyebrow at Josh. "If I hear of any funny business, I will personally come deal with it."

As the couple rejoined and walked off, Maya scoffed at Shawn's warning. "Oho, I'm so scared! Shawn will come deal with it _himself_?"

Josh chuckled.

They opened the door, and immediately Maya felt nostalgia from the memories they shared just in that lobby.

She looked over at the large window seat, where Riley and Lucas sitting, holding hands and laughing together while their daughter climbed all over them and Adam was sleeping in his car seat beside them.

She could hear their young voices in her head.

' _Josh?' she had asked him, raising her eyebrows._

' _What?' he replied, wary of the devilish smile on her face._

' _Why have you let me hold onto your hand this entire time?'_

' _I don't know Maya. I don't know.'_

Maya smiled at the memory, and at Riley and Lucas, who were probably reliving some memories as well. Then she moved further into the lobby, where the fireplace was flickering. It looked exactly as she'd remembered.

She remembered sitting there after telling Lucas to talk to Riley when Josh had come up to her.

' _You once said you were playing the long game,' Josh had said._

' _I like you Josh,' Maya admitted. 'It's you I like.'_

 _There had been a brief pause, before Josh said something that made Maya's heart melt._

' _I like you too.'_

Josh slipped his arms around her waist from behind, and Maya leaned back into his arms. "I love you, Maya."

Maya smiled. "I love you too, Josh."

* * *

"Look, Ava, I don't want to share a room with you any more than you want to share a room with me," Maya said to the teen, who was currently sitting on her bed, arms crossed, ignoring the older girl. "But we have to."

"All thanks to your stupid father," Ava said angrily.

Maya wanted to defend Shawn, but she couldn't help but agree with Ava. Shawn was the one who did this to them.

Suddenly there was a knock on their door, and Maya went to open it. It was barely open a crack before Josh pushed his way into the room, shutting it quickly behind him.

"Josh, what are you doing here?" Maya demanded.

"You really think I was going to spend the night with Auggie?" he asked her like she was out of her mind. "Don't get me wrong, I love the kid, but I'd rather have you as a roommate."  
"What about me?" Ava asked. "I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I can't hear you while you two are going at it like-"

"Shawn's asleep," Josh interrupted. "I checked. And Auggie's expecting you."

Ava perked up. "Then I'll see you guys in the morning," she said. "Try to get at least a bit of sleep."

With that, she slipped out of the room.

Josh turned to Maya, smiling suggestively. "Finally, we're alone."

They connected their lips with a kiss, which quickly grew into more.

An hour later, they lied in the bed together, limbs tangled together under the sheets. Maya absentmindedly traced intricate patterns on Josh's bare chest, watching her finger as it went.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Josh asked, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"I'm just so happy right now," Maya whispered. "And nothing can ruin that."

Turns out, she was wrong.

* * *

The next morning, the couple was awakened by a loud knocking on the door. Before either had a chance to answer it, Shawn barged in.

"Shawn!" Maya exclaimed, pulling the covers further up to cover her bare chest.

"Joshua Gabriel Matthews!" Shawn shouted, his voice loud enough to wake everyone in the lodge. He marched over and pulled the covers away from the young man, who had luckily put his boxers back on in the middle of the night. "We need to have a talk."

He pulled him out of bed and out of Maya's room. Maya let her head fall back on her pillow and she groaned. It was way too early for this.

Eventually, she got dressed and went downstairs to eat with the others. After they ate, Cory announced that he and Topanga would stay back and babysit any kids if their parents wanted to go skiing with Shawn and Katy. Everyone agreed to go, so in another hour they were heading up to the ski lift, all dressed in their puffy ski jackets and snow pants. There were a few other people skiing with them, who were most likely staying in the separate cabins that were across the resort, but other than that, they had the slopes to themselves.

As they filed into two different lines, Shawn cut Maya off so that she wasn't able to go on the two-person lift with Josh. Instead, she was stuck with her mother. Not that she didn't love her mother, she just wanted to ride on the lift with Josh.

When they finally reached the front of the line, she watched as Josh and Shawn boarded the lift. Josh looked back at her, mouthing 'help me'. She shot him an apologetic look.

Maya and her mother were on the next bench, and they were pretty much silent throughout the whole ride. Maya was listening to Josh and Shawn's voices up ahead, but she couldn't make out what they were saying.

"What do you think they're talking about up there?" Maya asked her mother.

Katy shrugged, but could hardly keep a smile off her face. Maya knew she wasn't telling her something, but decided to let it be and not pester her about it.

When they finally reached the top, everyone was waiting for them. Maya skied up beside Josh at the end of the line of people, and watched for a while as the other members of their family went down. Then, she turned to Josh with a smirk on her face.

"Race you," she said, and then took off down the hill, Josh yelling after her.

About halfway down the hill, Josh had caught up with her and sped past her, whooping and smiling victoriously back at her.

"Josh, look out!" Maya cried as she watched him inadvertently head straight in the direction of a large pine tree.

He looked back in front of him just in time to see the tree, and swerved hard. Unfortunately, he took too sharp of a turn and lost his balance, wiping out. He didn't get back up, and Maya felt a pang of worry in her gut.

"Josh!" Maya said, but she knew she couldn't stop in time to help him without wiping out herself. She sped down the rest of the slope, meeting her family at the bottom.

"Josh just wiped out," she explained. "He didn't get up."

"You think he might be hurt?" Riley asked, and Maya nodded.

Just then, a bright red snowmobile whizzed by, the lights on its hood flashing. The group watched as it traveled its way up the hill, towards where Maya knew Josh was. Someone working the ski lift must have called the emergency people, which meant Josh still wasn't up.

"Come on," Katy said. "We should get over to the hospital building."

Everyone took off their skis and walked over to the stark white building that was by the cafeteria building. They walked inside, and sat down in the lobby in the couches.

A few agonizingly slow minutes later, the doors opened and Josh hobbled in, his arm around the shoulder of a medical worker.

Maya stood up and walked quickly over to him.

"Oh my god, Josh, are you okay?" she asked, pushing his dark hair out of his face.

Josh shook his head. "My knee really hurts. I can't put any weight on it."

The others surrounded him, pushing Maya away. She let her face drop. This was all her fault. If she hadn't told him she'd race him down…

"We've got to get him checked out," the medical worker said over all the noise. "One person can come back with us. Josh, who'd you like it to be?"

Josh locked eyes with Maya for a split second, before looking over to Shawn. "Shawn?" he asked weakly. "You think you could…?"

"Of course, kid," Shawn said, and the three disappeared down the hallway.

Maya tried not to be hurt. After all, Shawn could probably be of more help to Josh than she could in this situation. Still, it hurt to think that he didn't want her to be there with him when he found out what was wrong.

It took another thirty minutes before the two appeared again, and this time Josh had his knee in a brace and crutches tucked under his arms.

"What happened?" Maya asked, going over to them.

"He's got a moderate knee sprain," Shawn answered. "It's not too severe, but he'll have to wear this brace for about two to four weeks and use the crutches for about a week."

"You'll be alright, though?" Maya asked, directing her question at Josh.

He nodded. "I'll be fine."

"The doctor put him on some pain meds to help him for now, and said that he should get some rest when possible," Shawn explained.

"So it's time we get back to the lodge, then," Katy suggested.

Shawn agreed, and together the group trekked back to the lodge. Maya stayed by Josh's side the whole time, but whenever she'd try to talk to him, he'd brush it off with a simple, one-word answer.

Cory and Topanga immediately got up and rushed over to Josh, pushing Maya out of the way once again.

"What happened?" Topanga asked, helping him over to one of the couches.

"I sprained my knee when I was racing Maya down the hill," Josh explained, and Maya felt her heart drop a bit. So he thought it was her fault as well.

"I'm telling you guys, this place is bad luck," Cory insisted, and everyone chuckled.

"Well, now that you guys are back, I'll go get some lunch ready," Topanga offered, and then disappeared into the kitchen.

Josh sat in the armchair, propping his foot up on the table. While the others swarmed around him, making sure he was alright, Maya stood to the side. Jessica came toddling up to her godfather, and he pulled her into his lap with a smile on his face – the first Maya had seen since the accident happened.

She took a seat on the sofa across the little living space, looking over at the fireplace instead of at Josh with his injury that she had pretty much caused. Around thirty minutes passed, and finally Topanga announced that lunch was ready.

Maya stood up with the rest of her family, and stood at the back of the line as they started to file into the dining area.

"Hey Topanga, you think I could eat in here?" Josh asked.

Maya caught him send a fleeting glance in her direction.

"Of course," Topanga agreed sweetly.

"And Shawn as well?" Josh asked, and Shawn nodded, heading back toward him.

Topanga smiled and ducked into the kitchen to grab their lunches.

Maya trudged into the kitchen after her, dejected. It was obvious the only reason he didn't want to dine with them was because of herself. Because he was mad at her for causing his accident.

Maya barely ate, only focused on how she could apologize to Josh for doing this to his knee. She decided that she'd do it right after everyone was done eating, and that she would beg for his forgiveness.

After the last person was done eating and the family was now just conversing with each other, Maya darted out of the room into the living room, only to find that Josh was gone, and only Shawn remained.

"Where's Josh?" Maya demanded.

"He went to lay down for a little while," Shawn answered.

Maya started toward his room, but Shawn's voice stopped her.

"Just let him rest a bit," Shawn told her. "He needs to be alone right now."  
Maya sighed dejectedly and sat down next to her father. "Is he okay?" she asked.

Shawn nodded. "It's just a moderate sprain, Maya," he assured her. "He'll be over it in a few weeks."  
"He's not mad, though?" Maya asked.

Shawn frowned. "At who?"

"Never mind," Maya said.

The rest of the family joined them and they all played a few games together, taking up most of the afternoon. By the time they were done playing, the sun was low in the sky.

"I'm going to make some dinner," Topanga announced. "Any requests?"

"Make Josh's favorite," Shawn suggested. "It might cheer him up a little."  
Topanga nodded. "Good idea," she said, and then went into the kitchen. Cory followed close on her heels, eager to help.

"I'm going to go check on Josh," Maya said, and took off toward his room before anyone could stop her. His door was cracked the slightest bit, and Maya pushed it open, knocking softly as she did.

Josh, who was slouching over at the side of his bed, turning something over in his hands, stiffened, and quickly dropped whatever he was holding into the bedside table. He slammed the drawer closed, forgetting to move his fingers. They got slammed into the drawer as well, and he withdrew his fingers quickly, wincing and clutching them with his other hand.

"Oh my god, Josh," Maya said, rushing over to his side. "Are you alright?"

Josh shook his hand out, flexing his fingers. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Maya frowned, taking his hand in both of hers. There was a bruise forming across the knuckles already. "Are you sure? They don't look too-"

"I said I'm fine," Josh insisted sternly, and Maya dropped his hand immediately and took a step back. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Josh, what's wrong?" Maya asked.

"What do you mean?" Josh countered.

"I mean you've barely even looked my way since the accident," Maya clarified. She stepped forward, and took his hands again. "You know you can tell me whatever this is that's bothering you. It won't hurt me to tell me the truth."

"I'm fine," Josh told her.

"That's the third time you've said that, Josh!" Maya exclaimed. "Just tell me what's wrong!"

"You want to know what's wrong, Maya?" Josh asked. "This stupid sprain in my knee is what's wrong! These bruised knuckles are what's wrong! It hurts, goddammit, and it's ruining everything!"

Maya stepped back once again, this time with tears pricking the corner of her eyes. Josh never yelled, unless he was really frustrated.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, before turning on her heel and exiting the room, letting the door slam behind her.

She ran back into the living room, where everyone stared at her, confused as to what they just heard. Maya took a deep breath, wiping tears from under her eyes.

"What happened, Maya?" Katy asked, standing up to comfort her daughter.

"Josh _hates_ me!" Maya sobbed.

There was a sudden and loud crash from Josh's room, and Maya let out another sob. Shawn stood up and made his way back to the origin of the sound.

"See?" she asked, and then rushed up to her room, where she laid down on her bed and tried to stop herself from crying.

She could hear Josh and Shawn speaking below her. Josh sounded extremely distressed, and it broke her heart. She didn't mean to cause him to have an accident, it simply happened that way. She just wanted to have a little bit of fun. But she had now officially ruined the trip for everyone.

Another hour passed before someone knocked on her door.

Maya swallowed. "Come in," she called tentatively, not ready to see Josh on the other side yet. Thankfully, it was only Riley holding a hot cup of soup and balancing her son on her hip.

"Hey Peaches," she said softly.

Maya smiled weakly.

"The rest of us are going on a walk," Riley told her. "Do you want to come?"

Maya shook her head. "I'll stay here," she said. "Do you want me to watch Adam?" she asked, gesturing to the baby.

"Nope, the kids are coming with us this time," Riley said. "But I brought you dinner as well, so you don't have to go down there."

Maya smiled gratefully, taking the mug from her friend. Riley gave her one last smile and waved Adam's little fists at her before leaving.

Maya curled up on her bed with the soup, and thought as she ate it. Maybe a walk would be nice after all. It could help her get her mind off of Josh for a bit, seeing as he probably wouldn't be going either.

As soon as she finished her soup, she changed into a clean outfit of a simple sweater and blue jeans. Then she braided her hair away from her face and washed her face clean of makeup. After cleaning up, she grabbed her coat and made her way downstairs, where the only thing lighting the room was the flickering fire.

Maya grabbed her boots and sat down on the stone surrounding the fire, pulling the boots over her feet. Even after she was done putting on her boots, however, she stayed seated. The last time she was there, Josh had come up behind her.

"Hey," said a voice from behind, startling her out of her thoughts.

Maya spun around. Josh stood behind her, his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"Hey," she replied, moving over so he could sit next to her.

He set his crutches down beside him and stretched his leg out in front of him before turning to her. "Maya, I don't hate you," he said. "I love you."

"I know," Maya said. "I love you too."

Josh smiled, and leaned over to press his lips against her temple.

"And I'm sorry I overreacted," Maya continued. "You have every right to be mad at me."

Josh recoiled, a frown on his face. "Mad at you?"

"Yeah, and I get it," Maya said. "I'm the one who raced you down that hill; I'm the one who caused your injury."

"What?" Josh asked "Maya, I don't blame you for the accident. That wasn't your fault at all. I'm not mad at you."

"Then why have you been avoiding me all day?" Maya asked. "And don't try to deny that, you have been avoiding me."

"I-" He stopped, reconsidering what he was going to say. He took his hands out of his pockets and raked them through his hair. His hands trembled noticeably.

"Josh, your hands are shaking," Maya commented, taking a hold of his hands and pulling them toward her. "What's the matter?"

Josh took a deep breath and looked into Maya's eyes. "I need to ask you a question."

Maya frowned slightly, but allowed him to continue.

"So, you remember when we came here the last time," Josh said. "And that was when we made the promise of 'Someday'."

Maya nodded. Of course she remembered.

"And now we're living it," Josh said. "Right here, right now, this is Someday."

Maya nodded again, still not sure where this was going. Josh put his hands in his pockets.

"And now, I want 'Someday' to be every day," Josh admitted. "I want to wake up next to you each morning; I want to be with you at your best and at your worst. I want to raise a family with you. And I'm sure this would be much better if I could take a knee, but…"

Maya felt herself tearing up as he made his speech, and she raised her hand to her mouth as he pulled a small black box out of his pocket and popped the lid open, revealing a simple diamond ring.

"Maya Penelope Hart, will you marry me?" Josh asked, looking up at her hopefully.

Maya didn't hesitate before nodding her head. "Yes," she mumbled through her tears.

He slipped the ring on her finger and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him and whispering over and over how much she loved him.

"I've been avoiding you all day because I was so nervous," Josh explained.

"Nervous?" Maya questioned, wiping her tears off her cheeks. "I would've never said no."

Josh took a deep breath and chuckled. "Shawn sure made it seem like the opposite. He made it seem like you were bound to say no, especially after what happened with Jordan."

"Shawn was just mad because we didn't follow his sleeping arrangements last night," Maya assured him. "Besides, Jordan is a thing of the past. He doesn't change the fact that I love you more than anything, and that I want to marry you."

"Good," Josh said, smiling.

"Here's to everyday," Maya said, leaning over and kissing her fiancé soundly. "The new Someday."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Whoa, no author's note at the beginning, what's up with that?!**

 **Ah, the epilogue. Everything's all fine and dandy and oh-so-fabulously cliche. Especially with the proposals. But you all wanted it, so here I gave it to you! Hope you liked it, and I hope you liked this story overall. I had a lot of fun writing it! Please leave me a review, it means a lot.**

 **So regarding other stories, I'm currently in the middle of writing a Descendants story, and am going to publish that one once I'm finished. So if you're interested, stay tuned. But, if you're not, and you're not a crazy Disney fan like I am (even though I'm probably too old to be), then my next story after the Descendants one will most likely be another GMW one, this one I'm thinking focused on Rucas rather than Joshaya.**

 **Thank you all so much for being faithful to this story (and its crazy updating schedule (*hangs head in shame*)) and just continuing to leave such lovely reviews. It means so much and I have so much love for all of you.**

 **Until next time lovelies,**

 **~SmartyPants210**


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